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THE 

TRIUMPH OF TRUTH, 

AND 

Conlintntal f (to anb Skttlj^s, 

FROM 

THE JOUKNAL, LETTERS, AND SERMONS 

OP THE 

EEY. JAMES CAUGHEY, 

AS ILLUSTRATED 

IN TWO GREAT REVIVALS 
IN NOTTINGHAM AND LINCOLN, ENGLAND; 

CONTAINING 

COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM MR. CAUGHEY'S JOURNAL AND LETTERS— SEYERAL 
OF HIS AWAKENING DISCOURSES— SERMONS ON SANCTIFICATION— 
LETTERS ON A CALL TO PREACH— CALL DEFINED— ENCOU- 
RAGED— CONSEQUENCES IP RESISTED— DIRECTIONS 
TO PATHS OP USEFULNESS— OBSERVATIONS 
ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE, &o. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

Rev. JOS. CASTLE, A. M. 



h 



n 



PHILAliELPHIA: 
HIGGINS & PERKINPINE. 

NEW YORK : CARLTON & PORTER. CINCINN^ATI, OHIO : SWORMSTEDT 

& POE. NASHVILLE, TENN. : STEVENSON A OWEN. 

BOSTON, MASS. I JAMES P. MAOEE. 

1857. 









Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

HIGGINS & PERKINPINB, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



MKARS & DUSENBERY, 
8TERE0TYPERS AND ELECTROTYPERS. 



SMITH & PETERS, 
PRINTERS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



God's workmen die, but his work lives, and will live, 
until all his great purposes of mercy respecting our race 
are fully accomplished. Promotion cometh neither from 
the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God 
is the judge : he putteth down one and setteth up another. 
Infinitely wise and infinitely good, he chooses his workmen 
according to the demands of the work to be accomplished. 
He has ever done so, and we suppose that he ever will ; 
and it is vain to look for sameness in one department 
of his work while we find boundless variety in every other. 
The little spirits of earth may find fault with this, and 
talk as though they were wiser than their Maker ; but their 
wisdom is their folly, and their glory is their shame. It 
will be found worse than useless to attempt making the 
bed of the famous robber of Attica anything more than a 
poetical fiction. God's workmen are not to be lengthened, 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

or shortened, or chiselled after any favourite model ; but 
must be left as God makes them, and work as God directs 
them. The great leading spirits, who have done so much 
to reform, refine, and exalt our race, were not made after 
the model of any school on earth ; but the work was done, 
and well done, maugre the objections of the schools or the 
learned doctors who directed them. 

The Church has been blest with great and holy men, 
differing greatly in gifts, and perhaps in graces ; but they 
have fulfilled their mission on earth and have gone to their 
reward in Heaven. John was not like Peter, and Peter 
was not like Paul ; and it is not probable that Paul taught 
as Gamaliel instructed him. He had a better teacher. 
It is now, as it was in former times, and probably will be 
until the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the 
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is 
an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and 
obey him. 

It would have taken many Francis Asburys or William 
McKendrees, to have made one of the master minds who 
have reigned in philosophy and letters, or in many depart- 
ments of the Church ; but it would have taken quite as 
many of them to have made one Asbury or McKendree ; 
and who shall say one was not as much the workmanship 
of God as the other ? They have all had their work to 



INTRODUCTION. V 

do, and God has been glorified, and the world has been 
improved by their labours. In our ignorance and foolish- 
ness we may have condemned men and measures simply 
because they did not quadrate with our opinions, as though 
our opinions must be right, and all who difi*er with us .must 
be wrong. The days of other years required men of 
various gifts for the accomplishment of God's work and 
God's glory ; and have the times so changed that all may 
and all ought to be cast into the same mould, and come 
out as coin from the mint of the same form and the same 
value ? This is neither desired nor expected. Devoted 
as we are, and have been from our youth to our present 
form and order, and believing as we do the regular 
itinerant ministry the most efficient instrumentality on 
earth to save men from sin and hell, we cannot look with 
favour on any eccentric movements, even with the avowed 
object of doing good, unless there be manifest indications 
of Providence, and the abundant fruits of the Spirit, seal- 
ing the work, and thus proving it to be of God and not of 
man. In such cases we cannot wrap ourselves in our real 
or fancied dignity, and, like the Scribe and Pharisee, pass 
on the other side ; but must give the right hand of fellow- 
ship, and say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord. Our prejudices may be wounded by it, but our 
piety will be improved — for it requires no small amount 
1* 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

of prayer and self-denial to see ourselves eclipsed and be 
willing to have it so, that God's will may be done. 

Priestly authority, dogmatical assertion, and angry 
declamation, may seem very lordly and very formidable ; 
but, if examined, as thank God they may be in this free 
land, they will often be found little more than mere 
painted ordnance, about as likely to convert sinners unto 
God, as the munitions of war, represented on canvass, 
would be to take the Sebastopols of the world. It is not 
by might or by power that men are to be saved, and 
certainly not by mere pretence, but By my Spirit, saith 
the Lord ; and if the Spirit see good to work in one direc- 
tion rather than another, or by one instrumentality rather 
than another, let it be so — let the work be done — let the 
will of the Lord be done, and let all good people say, 
Amen ! 

For near twenty years, the Rev. James Caughey, both 
in Europe and in America, has moved in an orbit outside 
of the regular itinerant ministry, and yet in close and 
holy fellowship with it, forming no party, causing no 
division, giving rise to no secession, but labouring night 
and day with tears to aid the regular ministry in their 
holy work of building up the Church of God. The fields 
of his labours could not have been thought of by himself or 
the venerable men with whom he was associated — Hedding, 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

Spicer, Clark, and others — when the Troy Annual Con- 
ference, held at Burlington, Vermont, granted him per- 
mission to travel for two years in Europe. God chose 
his work for him ; and he has proved himself a workman 
indeed, that needeth not to be ashamed in the presence of 
his brethren : rightly dividing the word of truth, and giving 
to saint and sinner his portion of meat in due season. The 
pride of man has been humbled, but the glory of God has 
been promoted in the pardon and purity of many thousands 
in two continents, who, we doubt not, feel their deep in- 
debtedness to God for the man and his earnest labours, 
and in the last day will arise and call him blessed. 

It is not easy to account for the remarkable success 
which has crowned the labours of Mr. Caughey. There 
is nothing in the man or the man's manners, so far as we 
have seen, that can explain it. He is plain in appearance, 
simple in manner, straightforward in action — never presum- 
ing and never out of place. He is not, as far as we have 
learned, as eloquent as was John N. Maffit, and he does 
not attract greater crowds ; but he is vastly more success- 
ful in getting sinners converted, and in pressing believers 
on to entire consecration. He has not the wonderful power 
of thought, or the majestic march of language of Henry 
B. Bascom, who died a bishop in the M. E. Church, 
South, and yet he can count his thousands where that 



VIU INTKODUCTION. 

great and noble-minded man could not count hundreds. 
No voice probably was ever more sweet— no tones ever 
more silvery — no tongue ever more fluent — ^no action ever 
more graceful — no life ever more devoted — no ministry 
ever more attractive — no man ever drew greater crowds 
or exercised a more masterly, spell-bound influence over 
them than the accomplished and sainted John Summer- 
field ; but we have no record of such multitudes converted 
from the error of their ways under his ministry. ' Without 
doubt Mr. C. is eminently pious ; wholly devoted to the 
work his Master has given him to do, and lives in the 
constant sunlight of God's favour : but so ' ave been many 
ministers of religion whose success was not remarkable, 
and is not remarkable at this day in any of the Evangelical 
Churches of which we have knowledge. It is, indeed, rare 
for a minister in this respect to be like Saul,- head and 
shoulders above his brethren. We have known far greater 
men, and men we think quite as good, but we know no 
man whose success in the ministry of our Lord Jesus 
Christ equals his, if report is to be relied on, and we sup- 
pose it is. The explanation for this we cannot give, unless 
it be this : God wills it. He can thrash the mountains with 
a worm, and grind the solid granite to an impalpable 
powder with the breath of his nostrils, and raise the 
weakest of his servants above the princes of his people. 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

We had heard for years of the triumphs of mercy and 
the triumphs of truth by the ministry of Mr. Caughey in 
England, when some twenty thousand professed faith in 
Christ, and ten thousand a new and heavenly baptism, 
sanctifying them wholly to God, soul, body, and spirit ; 
and of his labours in Canada, where five thousand were 
pardoned and fifteen hundred received the blessing of 
purity ; and of some one thousand who were happily con- 
verted in the New England States ; but as distance lends 
enchantment to the view, some may have thought distance 
exaggerates, and these stories may be too highly coloured. 
We confess to have indulged in some scepticism ourselves ; 
but we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears ; 
and we are unbelievers no longer in the remarkable powers 
and the remarkable success of this gifted and humble 
servant of our Lord Jesus. The power that God has given 
him to move the hearts and minds of vast multitudes, 
and bring many of them in loving subjection to the 
obedience of Christ, we can no longer doubt. If great 
achievements constitute a great man, then there can be no 
question that God has patented the nobility of James 
Caughey among the peers of his realm. 

About five years since Mr. C. was cordially invited to 
visit and labour some time in Philadelphia, but his mind 
was not then in this direction ; but in October last, it 



X INTKODUCTION. 

seemed to him as if the Lord, in his providence and by 
his good spirit, said, ^^ Arise and go toward the South." 
At this juncture, and while pondering upon it, a letter 
was received from the Rev. G. Dixon Bowen, pastor of 
Salem M. E. Church, Philadelphia, inviting him to visit 
that charge. Struck with the coincidence, he gathered 
that he was called, and accordingly set out ; but was 
intercepted at Newark, N. J., where he laboured six 
weeks with the Rev. William Tunison, and God gave 
them scores of souls for their hire. 

On the 17th of January, 1857, Mr. C. reached Phila- 
delphia, and on the 18th begun his work in Salem M. E. 
Church. This was a day long to be remembered for the 
intensity of the cold and the severity of the snow-storm, 
as well as the manifestations of God's power in the place 
of prayer. The church was well filled ; and as an earnest 
of what God intended to do, and as an encouragement to 
the hearts of his servants, a singular incident occurred ; a 
young lady, who was powerfully awakened, and whose 
spirit was stirred up to prayer, on her way home, in the 
midst of the bitter cold and the driving storm, by faith 
took hold on God's precious promises, and was happily 
converted, and went on her way rejoicing. Such a begin- 
ning promised well for the success of the meeting, and the 
promise was fully redeemed. The pastor writes : ''Not- 



INTRODUCTIOX. ^ XI 

withstanding the great snow-storm and intense cold, the 
church was full of attentive hearers, and night after night 
the altar is crowded with mourners. Last Sabbath was a 
day never to be forgotten by the members and congrega- 
tion of Salem Church. Morning, afternoon, and night, 
the sobs of penitents, the rejoicings of new born souls, were 
mingled with the shouts of God's people. At night the 
church was so packed, that at the close of the sermon, we 
had to open the lecture room and commence a prayer 
meeting below. We charged the enemy up stairs and down 
stairs, right and left. The slain of the Lord were many. 
The work of God goes forward with increasing power." 
Subsequently he writes : " The gracious revival still con- 
tinues in progress, and appears to be advancing with 
increasing power. Hundreds have been awakened and 
converted, and many believers have been sanctified. Mr. 
Caughey is still preaching at this point with great success, 
and the altar is still crowded by earnest inquirers after 
salvation." The result we have heard put down at five 
hundred, beside several hundred who professed to be 
renewed in the spirit and temper of their mind. On the 
6th of February, at the instance of the Rev. Dr. Hodgson, 
he began afternoon services in the M. E. Union Church, 
and continued them in several of the churches, and in 
every church crowded congregations, solemn, prayerful 



XU INTRODUCTION. 

attention, and deep religious emotions, proclaimed the 
presence and the power of God to save. Perfect harmony 
prevailed between Mr. C. and the pastors of the different 
churches, giving a most beautiful illustration of that 
beautiful Psalm : " Behold, how good and how pleasant it 
is for brethren to dwell together in unity." This great 
work of God is largely attributable to Mr. C. — but honour 
to whom honour is due — he was ably supported and nobly 
sustained by both pastors and people — especially is this 
true of the pastor and people of Salem Church. 

Mr. Caughey's published works are as remarkable and 
successful as his preaching. They are eminently readable 
books; and what is better, they are worth being read; 
and what is better still, they are read by many thousands. 
They are always sparkling — full of incident, and some- 
times quaint humour — -always entertaining, instructive, and 
suggestive. They have had an unprecedented popularity 
among religious publications ; and the present work, we 
think, will not fall behind its fellows. His sermons on 
Sanctification are just the words needed for the times. 
They are Scriptural and Methodistic, and ought to be read 
and known of all men : and his remarks to his lady com- 
panions, on their trip to Castle Donington, on dress^ are 
admirable. The extremes are happily avoided, and no 
Christian lady, thoroughly in earnest to be conformed to 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

the Word and Spirit of Christ, can read them without 

profit ; and no Christian lawyer, and there are many snch, 

can read his letter to a member of Lincoln's Inn, London, 

without doing him good. The ^' Triumph of Truth and 

Continental Letters" must be interesting, and more than 

interesting. The man stands out in his work ; and may 

Heaven bless the man and his work in the conversion of 

many thousands more. 

Joseph Castle. 

Philadelphia, May 6, 1857. 



CONTENTS. 



THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Programme of the volume — Nottingham Review — a critique, on Mr. C/s 
style, &c Page 25 

CHAPTER II. 

OPENING HIS COMMISSION IN NOTTINGHAM. 

A successful Sabbath — Morning prayer, cream of the day — The ornamental 
parts of religion — Spare end of the chains of darkness — Fire round the 
links — Stultifying the preacher — Parallel lines in a revival — Question- 
able anchorage — A nice point — The gossamer sail and broidered work 
of Egypt — " Not so. Lord" — "Wind out of the sail — Lordly conceptions — 
Sinners in chains — Sharper weapons — Wesley's first visit to Notting- 
ham — A week of victory, 30 

CHAPTER IIL 

NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

Pentecostal Sabbath — Conscience — A frightened preacher — Reliability of 
faith — Remarks of a German preacher — Necessity of the atonement — 
Intellect on fire — The helmsman — Shining without burning — Raising the 
devil — John the Baptist's style — Prayer defined by Fenelon — Hin- 
drances of sanctification, 37 



CHAPTER IV. 

MORE NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

Turn or die — Saying of Luther — Finding the kernel — A surgical princi- 
ple — Wisdom needed — The Spirit paraphrasing his own work — Satan's 
opportunity — Words of light, but playthings — Slap-dash preaching — 
Baxter's idea of preaching — A humbling time — Sincerity — The fabulous 
stone — Chasing a thought too far — Forbearance of the Spirit — A great 
promise — Fletcher on belieWng — An amazing work of God, . . .42 

(15) 



XVI CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER V. 

PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

The revival, notice of, in a newspaper — Saying of Mr. Everett — A great 
day in Nottingham, . . .49 

CHAPTER VI. 

METHOD OF PREACHING DURING A REVIVAL. 

Plans not stereotyped — Guidance of the Spirit^ — A mean — nobody style — 
A doubter — An enduring law — Half conversions, . . . .50 

CHAPTER VII. 

MANNER OF ^EALING WITH THE CHURCH. 

Accusing the brethren — Credit and censure — An exalted example — Asiatic 
churches, how addressed — Whipping the church asleep — The grave- 
yard tree — Virgil's Dares, . , 54 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 

A SERMON. 

Existence in eternity, — comparative ignorance of — Two inquiries — Hell, 
existence and torment in, incomprehensible — The most terrible picture 
in the Bible — Sin, a terrible evil — Saying of an Italian lady — Baxter's 
idea — The undying worm — Outer darkness — Last sentence — "Depart,'* 
— h<»w it affects a child of God — "Honour's grip" — Eternal damnation, 
inconceivably terrible — Shadowed forth in our impressions, . . .59 

CHAPTER IX. 

PULPIT FAITHFULNESS. 

A SERMON. 

Apology defined — The spirit of the world in the church — Truth against 
the world — Gospel teachings, effects of — The liberal Emperor — Charity — 
Chain of perils — False charity — The world's anathema, preferred, . 71 



CHAPTER X. 

BIN — ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 

A SERMON. 

Hell the end, or drift of every sin — Satan's proposal, — his advantnge — 
Little sins — Fallacious comparisons — Sin of a spreading nature, — ter- 
minates happiness — A fearful choice — Holiness in order to happiness — 
Little sins, — an experience — Tempting Satan — A sad cry — Conversion 
or condemnation — A criterion on holiness, ...... 74 



CONTENTS. XVU 

CHAPTER XL 

SANCTIFICATION, — ERRONEOUS VIEWS CORRECTED. 

A SERMON. 

Indifference to holiness — Saying of a Calvinistic divine — Running down 
justification, imj^opriety of, — did not escape the notice of Wesley — 
An old error revived — Absolute perfection, not a doctrine of Method- 
ism — Initial sanctification — Not entirely sanctified, when justified — 
Wesley's teaching — Scripture intimations and inferences, . . .84 



CHAPTER XII. • 

SANCTIFICATION, — WRONG VIEWS CORRECTED. 

A SERMON. 

Gradual or instantaneous — Time — A parody — rLatitude of opinion — Rea- 
son, its inferences, and conclusions — Wesley's view — Experience of jus- 
tified persons — The vampire — An erroneous motto — Believing, thoughts 
on — Negative sanctification — Exhortation, 95 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WITNESS OF, AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. 

A SERMON. 

The witness — Limiting the Holy Spirit — OflBces of the Spirit — Purified 
and filled with love — Exceptions to a general rule — Not advantageous 
to after experience — Joy, a variable grace — Purity, stability of — An 
extreme view — Satanic advantages — Absolute rules for professing it, 
unsafe — Honesty of profession — Wesley's opinion — Benefits of profess- 
ing it — Satan's snare, 105 

CHAPTER XIV. 

INDWELLING SIN. 

A SERMON. 

The disturbing star — Searching questions — Eagle and firebrand — Treache- 
rous friend — Indwelling sin, illustrated — Satan's ally — Increases the 
power of outward evil — Plague of the heart — Betrays to the enemy — 
Prudent counsel — Saying of an Italian Christian, . . . .117 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE ENEMY WITHIN. 

A SERMON. 

Sin defined — Inbred sin, negative and positive character of — Contrary 
principles — How signalized — Perilous — Expostulation — Opulence, an- 
cient definition of — A volcano covered with snow — Heart, elements of 
destruction, in — Hlustrated — Madame Guyon's experience — Sentiment 

of a French divine, 124 

2* 



XVIU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A VISIT TO CASTLE DONINGTON. 

Preaches in a field — Great success — An excursion — Lecture on dress — 
Things forbidden — Nearest Gospel fashion — A safe rule — Primitive 
style — Innocent conformity — A single eye — God-prized ornaments — 
Returns to Nottingham, .* . . . 137 

CHAPTER XVII. 

SUDDEN DEATHS, 

Letters from a Birmingham leader — Sudden death after conversion — 
Awfully sudden, of two sinners — Reflections, 144 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL AT NOTTINGHAM. 

Calvary, a power — Arrows losing point — John Nelson and the Notting- 
ham mob — Charter for believing — The Highlander's "doot" — Faith 
defined — Remark of a German — Heavier ordnance — Note from a Greek 
scholar, on believing — Extent of the revival, . . . . • 147 

CHAPTER XIX. 

FARTHER VIEW OF THE WORK IN NOTTINGHAM. 

A newspaper correspondent, — his impressions, ... . . . 154 

CHAPTER XX. 

CLOSING LABOURS IN NOTTINGHAM. 

Heart lodged in the tree of life — "Meditative thankfulness** — Joy de- 
fined — Test of an effective sermon — Exercise — Plato's idea — Letter to 
a lawyer — Desires the sails of the mind — A cry in the ships — Closing 
reflections, 156 

CHAPTER XXL 

OFFICIAL STATISTICS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 



162 



CHAPTER XXIL 

GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS — LETTERS. 

Comments upon the revival — Ministers — Leaders — People — New converts 
— Wesley's affection for Nottingham — A visit to Newstead Abbey — Lord 
Byron-^The famous skull — The poet's tomb — Money loaned and lost — 
A gracious visitation — Manna and the mills — Soul, ship-like — The 
tiny sail — Goods of the footstool and the throne — Footing above the 
world — The shattered oak, . . . 



CONTENTS. XIX 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

ARRIVES IN LINCOLN. 

Amazing results of a Sabbath's labour — Journal continued — An effectual 
door opened of the Lord — Aristotle's opinion of felicity — Meditation — 
"Felicities running into felicities" — Lincoln cathedral — War in the 
gates — Crowning our petitions — A great work in Lincoln — Newspaper 
reporters — Annoyances — Character of — "Climbing thoughts" — More 
about the reporters — The Claudian litter — Light — Life and love, use of 
in preaching, 176 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ADVANTAGES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ENGLISH METHODISM. 

Progress of the work — A host of praying men — Capabilities — Peril, if 
misused — A warning, 182 

CHAPTER XXV. 

PREPARING TO LEAVE LINCOLN. 

Sanctification by faith — Prudence in enforcing — Extent of the revival — 
Cheering letter from Nottingham, 184 

CHAPTER XXVL 

TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 

Sympathy — Responsibility and peril of the calling — Calamity of a soul 
damned — Sentiments of Hall, Hume, and Doddridge — Saying of an 
American Bishop — A glorious privilege — The crisis — A painful incubus 
— Effects of upon business life, . . '. 187 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

TO THE SAME. — A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED, 

A revelation from God — Wrong motives — A remarkable instance — The 
direct and indirect call — Solitary idea — Samson in the camp of Dan — 
Visitations of the Spirit — The imperative call — Fire shut up in the 
bones — Willing obedience — Simplicity in action — The indirect call, . 196 



CHAPTER XXVin. 

TO THE SAME. — THE DISCOURAGED ENCOURAGED. 

An inquiry answered — A capacity for knowledge — Elements of the future 
man in the child — Moses — Humility, benefits of — Improve and have, . 205 



XX CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

TO THE SAME. — THE CALL EESISTED, — CONSEQUENCES. 

Door of usefulness closed — Call remains — A sore trial — Unwilling to obey 
— The leprous hand — Jonah — Necessary discipline, when tried as by 
fire — Moses driven into the wilderness — Joseph*s discipline and trial — 
Seneca's apple — Virgil's exile, 208 



CHAPTER XXX. 

TO THE SAME. — PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 

"^esleyan ministry in England — Married men not admitted as candidates 
for — Reasons assigned — Not an obstacle in American Methodism — 
Regular path to its ministry described — Evils of not observing the 
path — Amhrosey singular case of — Advice, on supposition of being 
called of God, 213 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

LETTER I. 

Sails for Holland — Sea sickness — Dutch beggars — The Dutch pilot runs 
the steamer aground — Passengers are set ashore — Dutch ladies — 
Arrives at Rotterdam — View from a tower — Dutch linguists and steam- 
boats, •....*. 225 



LETTER IL 

Rotterdam, description of — Erasmus, statue of — Sketch of his character — 
His epitaph — Visits Delft — Tomb of Grotius — Anecdote of — Music — A 
scene on the streets of Delft — Monuments — Proceeds to the Hague — 
Barneveldt, death of — Anecdote of his widow — Wood of the Hague — 
A Dutch congregation, 229 



LETTER IIL 

Remarks on the character of his observations as a traveller — Dep6t of a 
Dutch railway — Arrives at Leyden — A terrible accident — ^^A visit to 
the University — Arminius, character of — Episcopius — His writings — 
Synod of Dort — Truth — Botanical garden — ^Boerhave, character of — 
"John of Leyden," account of — The siege of Leyden — An evening 
scene on the banks of the Rhine — Arrives at Haarlem — Female pre- 
eence of mind — Town hall — Costar, the inventor of printing, statue 
of — Reflections — Popery and the press — Anecdote — The Haarlem organ, 
music of described — The sea of Haarlem and the Ai, precautions against 
— Arrives at Amsterdam — A scene in the streets — Reflections, . . 244 



CONTENTS. XXI 



LETTER IV. 

"Second thought,** remarks on — ^Anecdote — Van-Hopper and the Pope — 
The royal palace of Amsterdam — Lessons in sculpture — View from the 
cupola of the palace — Dutch ingenuity and industry — Amsterdam, re- 
marks on — Attire of the ladies — Leaves Amsterdam for Utrecht — Dutch 
houses — An illusion — Arrives at Utrecht — View from an old tower, . 267 



LETTER V. 

Leaves Utrecht for Nimeguen — Annoyed with tobacco smoke — Thoughts 
on the use of tobacco — Anecdote — An inveterate smoker — A class- 
leader and his conscience in reference to the use of tobacco — Gardens 
of Holland — Tobacco plantations — A "flying bridge" — Arrives at Ni- 
meguen — Proceeds up the Rhine — Reflections on the Rhine — Thoughts 
upon eternity — Arrives at Cologne, 277 



LETTER VL 

A Sabbath at Cologne — A Romish chapel and worship — Popery and 
Sabbath desecration — Visits the cathedral; high mass — Cathedral, 
description of — Original poetry — Cologne, present state of — Leaves 
Cologne for Coblentz — Rhine scenery — Singular manner of propelling 
a small boat— Arrives at Coblentz, 290 



LETTER VIL 

Coblenta and its neighbouring scenery — The fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, 
description of — History of the fortress strikingly illustrative of the fall 
and recovery of a backslider — Proceeds up the Rhine to Mayence — 
Rhine scenery — Anecdote — The repeating mountain — Tremendous 
echoes after the discharge of cannon — Reflections upon the feudal 
towers on the banks of the Rhine, and the state of society in the middle 
ages — Intellect and moral character, talent and temperament, thoughts 
upon — A departed friend, character of — Providence and affliction, reflec- 
tions upon, 300 



LETTER VIIL 

Arrives at Manheim — A short description of the city and its environs — 
Mayence, present appearance of, its public buildings, &c. — The art of 
printing improved at Mayence — A bridge of boats — Mill-boats on the 
Rhine — Frankfort, its cathedral, gardens, <tc. — Reflections upon a scene 
on the bridge of Mayence, 311 



LETTER IX. 

Leaves Germany for France — Altered appearance of the Rhine — Visits 
the cathedral of Strasburgh — Popish worship there, reflections upon — 
An idolatrous painting — Purgatory and indulgences, an advertisement 



Xxil CONTENTS. 

concernmg — Spire of the cathedral, beauty of — Ancient architects and 
church spires — Perilous ascent — General aspect of Strasburgh, . . 31^ 



LETTER X. 

Leaves France and proceeds into Switzerland — Plains of Alsacia, battles 
fought there — Reflections on war — United States, revivals of religion 
in, preservatives from war — Horrible fruits of war — Arrives at Bale — 
Death and eternity, reflections upon — A beautiful verse repeated by a 
Sabbath-school scholar — A walk through Bale — Christian institutions 
of the city — A missionary society, singular cause of the formation of 
one at Bale — Samuel Wesley's Hebrew Bible — Tomb of Erasmus — 
Calvin and Castalio — A fine view from the cathedral tower — The 
Rhine, 327 



LETTER XL 

Leaves Bale for Zurich — Swiss scenery — Degrading character of Popery — 
Swiss coachmen — A wise dog — Thoughts on prayer — Departure of a 
dense fog — Magnificent scenery — The Alps — Thoughts on providence — 
Enjoys a sail on the lake of Zurich — A splendid view of the Alps — 
Zwingle's pulpit and tomb — An evening scene — Lord Byron's journal; 
unhappy feelings of that nobleman amidst the grandeur of nature — 
Remarks upon some public builidings in Zurich, 340 



LETTER XIL 

Leaves Switzerland for France — Sabbath desecration — A French ceme- 
tery — Luther at Worms — A remarkable prayer of Luther — His eloquent 
and courageous defence, before Charles V., in the diet of Worms, . 354 



LETTER XIIL 

Rhine scenery, original poetry upon — Shomberg castle — Anecdote — Visits 
Aix-la-Chapelle — The mineral waters, qualities of — The city, observa- 
tions upon — A handsome fountain — Visits the cathedral — Tomb of 
Charlemagne — His throne — Anecdote — A Popish legend — Relics, . 365 



LETTER XIV. 

Leaves Rhenish Prussia for Belgium — Revenue ofiicers — Arrives at Brus- 
sels — General aspect of the city — Town hall, architecture of — The park 
— Departs from Brussels for the plains of Waterloo — Stirring incidents 
on the way — Visits the field of Waterloo — Horrible scenes after the 
battle, described by the guide — Interesting localities — Appalling events 
during the battle— Lord Byron, remarks upon — Napoleon, different 
positions of, during the battle — Poetry — The Mound — Wellington and 
Blucher, sudden meeting of, at the close of the battle, contrasted with 
the meeting of Christian heroes in heaven — A night scene on the plains 
of Waterloo — Reflections — Napoleon, reflections upon his character — 
A touching story connected with the battle, 380 



CONTENTS. XXIU 

LETTER XV. 

Spends a Sabbath at Brussels — Royal chapel — A German preacher — A 
singular pulpit in a Catholic church — Divine service celebrated in 
English — Character of the sermon — Reflections upon continental 
preaching — Arrives at Antwerp — Cathedral, description of — Two paint- 
ings by Rubens — Visits the Museum of ancient and modern paintings — 
A short criticism on the modern paintings — Rubens, his wonderful 
talent and general style — Anecdote of an American minister — Sails for 
England — A precaution against sea-sickness successful — A terrific 
storm — The author's experience — Arrives at London and proceeds to 
Hull, 404 



THE TEIUMPH OF TRUTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

In a volume entitled " Showers of Blessing from Cloxids 
of Mercy ^'^ from the pen of Mr. Caughey, and published 
by Rev. R. W. Allen, of Boston, there is an account of an 
extraordinary work of God in Birmingham^ England^ 
under the ministry of Mr. C, where he laboured about 
five months, — from early in December till the beginning 
of May, 1846. 

On the 9th of May, he left Birmingham for Notting- 
ham^ by railway, where he arrived on the evening of the 
same day. The next day [Sabbath] he commenced a 
series of meetings in Wesley chapel, a large commodious 
edifice, where he preached several weeks with very great 
success ; after which he visited the city of Lincoln^ and 
spent a short time, and many sinners were saved ; an 
account of which will be found in this volume. 

The following programme^ or order of the subjects em- 
braced in this work, is due to the reader, as it is so mis- 
cellaneous in character. 

Firsts a few extracts from Mr. Caugheys Journal^ by 
which the reader is at once introduced to the scenes of the 
revival, which commenced immediately ; and which pre- 
pares the way, Second^ for a few of his characteristic dia- 
3 (25) 



26 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

courses and addresses. Third, his Journal continued, 
which shows the progress of the work of God, with various 
observations upon preaching, and truth and its effects. 
Fourth, his '' Continental Letters," containing his observa- 
tions during a tour through parts of Holland, Prussia, 
Germany, France, Switzerland, and Belgium; all of which 
will, w^e trust, be entertaining and profitable. 

Let us now return to the commencement of his labours 
in Nottingham. The following well-written and candid 
critique appeared in ''The Nottingham Review,'' May 15, 
only five days after his arrival in Nottingham. It will 
amxuse the reader, while it shows the sort of impression 
produced by Mr. C.'s first appearance and labours in that 
populous town, from the stand-point occupied by one of 
the editors of the Review. It will answer the purpose of 
an Introduction better than anything we could write at 
present. 

'' Wesley Chapel. — The deferred anniversary servicer 
in connexion with this place of w^orship, were concluded 
on Sunday last with two sermons preached by the Rev. 
James Caughey, the American revivalist minister, who had 
arrived in town the previous evening. To insure a good 
hearing to the members of the congregation, they were 
admitted half an hour before service time on showing their 
regular seat tickets, as great numbers of visitors from the 
villages in the neighbourhood, were attracted by the report 
of the reverend gentleman's abilities. The sum of £53 
towards liquidating the debt on the chapel, was realized 
on the occasion, but no collection has been made during 
the Aveek-night services, though one has been held every 
evening except Monday. The preaching of Mr. Caughey 
creates a very great sensation in the town ; the chapel is 
crowded even in the aisles during every service, and at 
its conclusion numbers of penitents make their way to the 
communion-rails, near the pulpit, to^eek, under the terrors 



REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 27 

of guilty consciences, benefit there. It was announced on 
Wednesday evening, that two hundred persons had given 
in their names, as having received conversion under Mr. 
Caughey's ministry since he came to Nottingham, and we 
believe his visit will not soon be forgotten. There is 
nothing in the manner in which the reverend gentleman 
commences the service to lead the reader to expect what 
is to follow. He gives out the hymn in a calm, easy, un- 
appreciating style, and in a tone so conversational, that 
persons sitting in a distant part of the chapel, find it im- 
possible to gather the purport of his words. It is more 
with the air and tone of a man reading a paragraph from a 
newspaper to a select party, than of a preacher proclaim- 
ing an important message to a large congregation. In his 
prayer, too, very few indications are given of the aston- 
ishing power he possesses over the mind ; though it is 
not without its peculiarities. He lifts his hands towards 
heaven, and keeps them in that posture during the whole 
of his supplication, like Moses when Israel fought in 
Rephidim ; and once or twice, perhaps, at some point of 
deeper feeling, clasps his palms together, and then re- 
elevates them into the same poetic attitude. But, generally 
speaking, his prayers have rather the tone of calm disqui* 
sition, than address to the Deity ; and nothing at all in 
them expressive of power, except when a gush of deep 
affectionate feeling makes its way through the mild tran- 
quillity, or at rarer intervals flashes out for an instant the 
lightning which has been so calmly folded in its. mantle 
of quiet cloud. His reading of Scripture betrays even less 
of power than his prayer ; it is not performed without a 
certain subdued feeling ; but there is a peculiar off-hand 
style with it, and a certain tone of dramatic appreciation, 
without any great apparent solemnity or reverence in the 
delivery. It is not till he prepares to name his text, that 
my extraordinary power is manifested ; he generally pre- 



28 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

faces it with some observation on what he has felt during 
the day, or since he entered the pulpit ; or with an appeal 
to a certain character whom he prophesies to be in the 
congregation. Then, indeed, it becomes plain, however 
the prejudiced visitor may have doubted it before, that th^ 
man is in earnestr— terribly in earnest; and that every 
word he says he both feels and believes. On Tuesday 
night, when the preliminary parts of the service had been 
gone through, and the Bible lay open before him, instead 
of taking his text, as it was natural to expect he would, 
he startled the congregation by a searching appeal to some 
backslider, whom he individualized as present among them ; 
and in his manner of doing this showed great knowledge 
of human nature, and an intimate acquaintance with the 
subtleties of the mind. Such a character, if present in 
the place, unless his heart were triple brass, must have 
been struck as with a thunderbolt. Of the heart indeed 
his dissections are masterly ; he is evidently well versed 
in its anatomy. As he represented a certain character, a 
backslider, perhaps, or a defrauder, or a profane person, 
many eyes seemed fraught with the anxious inquiry, ' Is 
it If until at length, as the lineaments of the portrait 
become clearer and more distinctly defined, the shrinking 
look and trembling frame declared in unmistakeable 
language ^It is J/' In his manner of looking at a text, 
there is something original ; ingenious and unexpected 
terms are given to the different parts of it ; and as each 
is illustrated, it tells with surprising power upon the con- 
gregation. This effect is heightened by a certain abrupt- 
ness of delivery, which, scorning all preface and apology, 
rushes instantly to its point, and takes possession of his 
hearers by storm. His eloquence, too, is not an even un- 
interrupted flow of words, but his speech is forced out in 
jets of great intensity, with an interval between each burst. 
It must be allowed that his style is highly poetical ; not 



REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 29 

that he indulges in fine unusual words and strings of 
epithets ; there is no attempt at display of this kind ; 
simple and plain, his style is yet remarkable* for its poetic 
effectiveness ; and to this he owes a considerable portion 
of the influence he exerts over his hearers. On Tuesday 
night, the force with which he imaged a fold of sheep, to 
illustrate the conduct of the newly converted mind, was 
singular ; it was not only quite evident that every word he 
said, he saw visibly before him, but he made his hearers 
see it too ; the swine prowling about the fold and leering 
at the flock, manifesting no desire to be numbered among 
the sheep, was forcibly contrasted with the lamb which 
went bleating around to spy an entrance, and at last, when 
the door was opened by the shepherd, darted in. The 
effect of such passages as these was very much increased 
by the minister's appropriate attitudes and gestures ; not 
his mouth only, but his eyes and hands, and his whole 
person, combining to give utterance to his eloquent thought. 
Every scene he drew was visibly before the eyes of the 
congregation ; where he pointed with his hand, they 
looked ; and the vacant air in front of the pulpit which he 
chose as the canvass on which to paint his vivid designs, 
was evidently no longer a vacancy to his hearers, as was 
quite manifest from the fixed stare with which they gazed 
into it. When he spoke of angels as hovering over the 
people, and occupying the ring enclosed by the gallery 
of the chapel, and invented conversations, which he said 
they might be then holding with respect to certain indivi- 
duals in the place, the silence that prevailed among the 
people was profound ; they scarcely dared to breathe ; and 
seemed as if they really were hearing the rustling and 
flapping of the invisible wings. But as this picture was 
allowed to fade away, and an appeal to the feelings of the 
people followed ; and when the solicitude of the souls of 
the departed after the eternal welfare of their friends 
3 * 



30 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

below was dwelt upon, a universal sob burst from the 
assembly, and even the faces of rugged and- weather-beaten 
men were illuminated by the reflection of the lamps in the 
water upon their cheeks. At times this emotion assumed 
a more frantic character; shouts, groans, and all manner 
of pious ejaculations rising from all parts of the house, 
until the preacher's voice became inaudible, and the whole 
place resounded with wailings and cries. The arrange- 
ments were extremely well ordered and efiicient ; during 
the prayer-meeting which succeeded the service, numbers 
of persons were observed in all parts of the chapel, who 
had been appointed to lead up to the communion rails 
those who were desirous of being publicly prayed for ; 
and as they obtained assurance of what they sought, led 
them out orderly at the vestry door. We believe Mr. 
Caughey will stay in the town some days yet ; and it is 
intended to hold services not only next Sunday, but also 
every night during the ensuing week, except Monday and 
Saturday.'' 



CHAPTER II. 

OPENING OF HIS COMMISSION IN NOTTINGHAM. 

Nottingham^ May 11, 1846, Monday morning. — On 
Saturday morning, 9th inst., I bade farewell to my dear 
friend at Sparkhrook House^ Birmingham, and parted with 
numerous other friends, who were very dear to, my heart, 
— more than words could express, and came on by rail- 
way, pensively^ and arrived in Nottingham about sundown ; 
— was conducted to the mansion of Mr. Sansom, where 
I received a cordial welcome ; — felt perfectly at home. 
"Peace be to this house.'' 0, but I did feel "the Son of 
peace'' was there, and here he remains. 



OPENING OF HIS COMMISSION IN NOTTINGHAM. 31 

Yesterday^ I opened my commission in Wesley chapel, a 
fine, large, commodious edifice, capable of accommodating 
between two and three thousand people, and it was full. 
The Lord began an outpouring of his spirit immediately ; 
and during the day and night, one hundred and thirty-six 
souls were saved ; of whom sixty-two were from the world. 
These were appropriated to classes^ receiving each a note 
to that efiect. Fifty-two of those from the world, belonged 
to Nottingham. The remainder of the saved, were marked 
by the secretary, in the Register, thus : Twenty-one be- 
longed to the Society in Wesley chapel. Ten to "Halifax 
chapel, south side of the town. Nineteen were claimed by 
other denominations ; and eighteen were from a distance. 

They do up Revival matters here, in a very business- 
like manner ; — resolving not to work in the dark, — and to 
prevent exaggerated reports, — to know the character and 
extent of the work ; — for they have "faith in God'' for a 
great work. Truly I have come among a people prepared 
of the Lord ! 

May 12. — Realized the benefit of that advice given 
by one a long time ago ; — that as the morning is the 
cream of the day, there is no better way than to let God 
have it ; — for it is with the mind, in the morning, as with 
wool in the first dye, — that is the best, and it keeps it the 
longest, — good to have the mind tinged and tinctured V^ith 
holiness, for that is apt to abide upon it all the day ! The 
heart, he added, if VieW-jyerfumed with heavenly thoughts, 
and precious grace, in the morning, the fragrance thereof 
will remain all the day long ! — that, the heart, with all its 
affections, like a clock, if wound up well in morning devo- 
tion, is sure to run all day ! And besides, it is with the 
7nind in the morning, as with guests arriving at a hotel, — 
the thoughts which are the first to arrive in the morning, 
obtain the best rooms of the heart, and are apt to retain 
them, in spite of other thoughts which arrive later, seek- 



32 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH^ 

ing to eject them ! There is a gr-eat spiritual fact in these 
simple illustrations. This has not been the first day of my 
life to realize its truthfulness. Hallelujah ! 

A great prayer meeting last night, — the kingdom of 
heaven "seized with violent hands!'' Forty-seven souls 
saved ; of whom fourteen were from the world. 

May 13. — That text, " Rejoice evermore," &c., 1 Thess. 
5 : 17, 18, opens up well ; one can defend Christian experi- 
ence by it, in a great number of ways ; — in showing the why 
and the wherefore of it ! " The grave cannot praise thee ; 
death cannot celebrate thee,'* said King Hezekiah, after 
his recovery. " The dead praise not the Lord^ neither any 
that go down into silence ;'^ says the Psalmist. The same 
may be said of every unconverted soul, in the church, and 
out of it, with regard to Rejoice evermore, praying without 
ceasing, and thanking Grodfor everything ! 

No, nor can those rejoice and give thanks, whose ways 
please not the Lord, and who break with him regarding 
seeking holiness. 

That was a shrewd remark of one, and worthy of note, 
that, foul hands must not work in damask, or flowered 
satin, as they would soil and mar the beauty of it ; so he 
thought, praise and thanksgiving are the ornamental parts 
of our beautiful religion ; — the damask, and flowered satiii 
of our exalted Christianity, — which an impure heart, or an 
unholy life, is sure to sully. Was enabled to press hard 
upon these things, and illustrations came to my help in 
troops. We had victory over the works of the devil. 
Twenty-two saved ; thirteen of whom were from the world. 

May 14. — Death reigns in some, I perceive. To be 
dead and not to know it, is but the spare end of " the 
chains of darkness,'' with which the devils are bound, 2 
Peter 2 : 4, and which, doubtless, they quietly coil around 
stupid professors and sinners. 

This chain must be broken, or dissolved, if there is power 



OPENING OF HIS COMMISSION IN NOTTINGHAM. 33 

and fire enough in the Gospel to do it. Amen. '^ To be 
unacquainted with a state of deaths when you are in it, 
doth fasten your chains, and hinder your recovery/' said 
Baxter to one. Tried to make them sensible of this, and 
struck hard at some of the links of the chain, and then, 
finding them too cold, put fire around them ! Some, how- 
ever were severed, and others melted down, and there was 
a great cry. But of others, Satan seemed to grin, " you 
will need heavier blozvs or sharper tools, or an intenser 
fi,ame, ere these break, or melt, stranger!" Ay! likely 
enough ! Many left with their chains on as before. But 
twenty-five were saved, of whom ten were from the world. 

Mr. Wesley visited Nottingham, June 11, 1741, I 
perceive by his journal, nearly one hundred and five years 
ago, and remarked, ^' I could not but observe, 1st. That 
the room was not half full, which used, till very lately, to 
be crowded within and without. 2d. That not one person 
who came in used any prayer at all ; but every one imme- 
diately sat down, and began either talking to his neighbour, 
or looking about to see who was there. 3d. When I began 
to pray, there appeared a general surprise, none once offer- 
ing to kneel down, and those who stood, choosing the most 
easy, indolent posture which they conveniently could." 
This appears to have been Mr. Wesley's first visit. What 
a change since then in Nottingham Methodism! Mr. 
Wesley tells us that he expounded with a heavy heart. 
He preached twice, from two mild texts ; but in three days 
he returned again, and cried in the market-place to a multi- 
tude, " The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; 
and they that hear shall live/' 

May 15. — How it helps to quickness of apprehension 
in the pulpit, when one's hearers seem to possess the same 
faculty ! But when people are dull and stupid, and seem 
to hear as if they would not hear, or wished not to hear, 
how it stultifies the preacher ! — makes him preach, as if he 



34 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

would rather not preach; — unless there is life and fire 
in himself, independent of them;— then he will kindle 
and hiirn^ and^asA, and his words fall upon them like^r^ 
from Heaven, to quicke7i, or move, or madden ! 

There were twenty-five saved last night, eight of whom 
were from the world. The work of entire sanctification, — 
the church's great want, has taken up it^ parallel line with 
that of justification ; and they are running along beautifully 
together, by the power of the same spirit. Several of the 
twenty-five were made perfect in love. 

May 16th, Saturday morning. — Holiness last night. It 
is well to remove hinderances, by replying to objections. 
Must go through the gates, prepare the way of the people, — 
east up, cast up a highway, gather out the stones, and then 
lift up a STANDARD for the people. Isaiah 62 : 10. But 
it requires much skill and prudence, to say just enough, 
and no more, so as to prevent gaps for other out-of-the 
way objections ; — and so to manage one's time, as not to 
infringe upon the sermon. Thus, on the subject of be- 
lieving ; that I meant only what everybody believes, that 
man has a believing faculty — that to this I make free to 
appeal. If exercised in the lightest, why not in the weight- 
iest matters ? — that some call it natural faith ; — let them 
call it what they like, — it is a faculty of the mind, by which 
we believe or disbelieve anything, when sufficient or insuffi- 
cient evidence is afiorded ; — that it is called into action in 
every science with which we have to do ; and God has been 
pleased to ordain, that it shall be called into action in the 
science of experimental salvation. 

Again: as to '^ unsuccessful faith and (-^ unfulfilled de- 
sires for purity ;" — it is true, desires are the sails of the 
mind, and faith the grand instrumentality of salvation ; 
but, although the sails may be unfurled, and spread, and 
faith in action, these are ineffectual, unless all sinful at- 
tachments are severed j otherwise we would resemble a 



OPENING OF HIS COMMISSION IN NOTTINGHAM. 35 

captain ordering all sail set to a fine breeze, while, like 
Paul's ship in the Adriatic, there are '('four anchors out 
of the stern!'* which have not been taken up ! In spiritual 
affairs^ as well as nautical^ it is well to weigh anchor^ 
before hoisting sailj and if that cannot be done, and the 
necessity is great, why slip or cut cable and clear away 
before the swelling gale ! — a good figure, when carried out, 
and lays hold of the difficulties of not a few seekers of full 
salvation ; — one can point out certain cables and anchors 
out on questionable bottoms^ which neutralize the best suit 
of sails ever hoisted to the gales of grace ; neutralize the 
strongest desires after holiness — a powerful point just 
there. 

Better management and fewer words w^ill be necessary, 
should I ever return to that other nice point, as a reply ; — 
desires after purity may have been imperfect ; — a ship may 
carry a deficiency of sail, through slothfulness^ or indiffer- 
ence^ at the option of the captain and crew, when the top 
and topgallants should be up ! And thus it may be with 
the soul and the sails of its desires ! 

Again : some are so nice in their order and manner of 
seeking full salvation, and obtaining it ; — desires are the 
sails of their mind, but so flimsy and gossamer -like ^ that 
they are easily rent in twain, under the heavenly breeze^ 
and the soul, like a helpless ship, is left alone in the midst 
of a rolling sea of trouble, out of which others, with stout 
and well bent sails, escape into the haven of perfect love ! 

Besides, the sails of others are narrow as well as frail, 
and when they are spread upon the soul, they catch an 
insufiiciency of the glorious breeze, — it is like seeking to 
waft a ship with a pocket handkerchief spread in the rig- 
ging, and then wonder why the vessel does not move along 
and keep up with others ! 

Again : others have cumbered and weakened the sails 
of their minds, by a superfluity of " the broidered work of 



36 THE TRIUMPH OF TIIUTH. 

Egypt'' — too much worldly wiBdom^ and too many watch- 
words aboard, of " Not so. Lord !" as Peter of old. If the 
Lord will purify them, it must be done in perfect accord- 
ance with certain rules which their taste and education 
have planned ; such as their refined sensibilities and high 
order of reason demand. And not only so, but others 
also must be made to receive the blessing in accordance 
with the same rules, or they are in confusion and dis- 
approbation^ poor things ! for up come some ten or twenty^ 
borne along by the breezes from Calvary, all sail set, and 
some of them flapping and straining considerably ; who 
take the wind quite out of their tiny and embroidered 
sails — drown the whisper of their watchword, ''Not sOy 
LordV^ and risk their being capsized or swamped midst 
the surges of salvation! — violating all their ideas of 
spiritual seamanship! 

And others, to use an idea of Mr. Fletcher^ are so full 
of their lordly conceptions^ that nothing will do but they 
must come into this mystical Jerusalem in a triumphal 
chariot^ or upon a prancing horse^ instead of following 
their meek and lowly Lord, who entered Jerusalem sitting 
upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass ; — they will 
not believe and enter into the blessing of entire sancti- 
fication, unless borne into it in a state of exceeding joy 
and perfect ecstasy ; — when their Lord would have them 
believe and enter into that blessed state in poverty of spirit^ 
emptiness^ entire nothingness^ and in the deepest humilia- 
tion ! 

It was not my intention to write so much when I took 
up my pen — have been tempted to tear these leaves out, 
and reserve them for my Notes on Revival Warfare — which 
would be a better department for such reminiscences^ I 
think — and thus enable myself to journalize with less 
prolixity. Sometimes when I take up my pen after 
preaching, or at the close of a week's hard conflict, I know 



NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 37 

not where to stop, until I write out all that is in my heart, 
which displeases me when done, as it looks more like 
sermonizing or essayizing — if I may be allowed the word 
— than journalizing or diarizing. 

Afternoon of Saturday, May 16. — This has been a week 
of victory. The Secretary reports two hundred and ninety 
saved {pardon and purity)^ of whom one hundred and 
nineteen were from the world. All glory be to God in 
Christ ! He doeth the works ! But how long is it to 
continue thus? While there are vessels to receive the 
heavenly oil ! 2 Kings 4 : 6. 



CHAPTER III. 

NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

May 18, Monday morning. — A great power from Heaven 
rested upon the people yesterday. The Secretaries report 
one hundred and eighty-five souls saved in both blessings, 
a large number from the world, and over seventy of the 
saved from the distance of several miles around, and many 
from other denominations. 

how long, and how bitterly, did some plead for mercy ! 
What an unmerciful and unappeasable thing is an aroused 
and angry conscience ! And how singularly treacherous^ 
so to speak ! — for in some it hardly speaks above a whisper 
for years, and much of the time dormant in others ; but 
how it roars and rends the soul at a time like this ! It 
seems to turn judge^ jury^ and executioner^ at the same 
hour ! It is like a devil let loose in some, and as vengeful 
— as if it had put itself in God's stead to take vengeance 
for past insults. And may we not in this way infer the 
4 



38 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

nature of eternal punishment ? How terrible must be its 
operations in liell where there are no hopes oi mercy ! 

how such scenes do melt and move my soul ! And, 
were I not absolutely sure that the results of faith are 
sure^ I am not sure but, like Mr. Fletcher on a certain 
occasion, I should be tempted to ^^take to my heels !" It 
was shortly after his arrival in Madely ; and he had begun 
to preach the Gospel in the parish churchy with the Holy 
Ghost sent down from Heaven, fearless of consequences — 
though he did get frightened very soon. Writing to Hev. 
Charles Wesley , April 27, 1761, he says : " A young per- 
son, the daughter of one of my rich parishioners, has been 
thrown into despair; so that everybody thought her insane j 
and indeed I thought so too. Judge how our adversaries 
rejoiced ; and, for my part, I was tempted to forsake my 
ministry and take to my heels : I never suffered such afflic- 
tion. Last Saturday I humbled myself before the Lord, 
on her account, hj fasting and prayer ; and I hope that 
the Lord has heard my prayer. She found herself well 
enough to come to church yesterday." had I not seen 
such scenes before, I should have been tempted to suspect 
that hundreds of people had at once lost their senses^ nevei* 
to find them again ; and if for shame I had not taken to 
my heels, it would certainly have frightened me ever after 
from letting loose the true artillery of the Gospel, among 
sinful men. But the confidence that no law in nature is 
surer in its results than the law of faith, preserved my 
heart from trouble ; and, truly, the salvation of one 
hundred and eighty ^five souls, verified the fact. halle- 
lujah to God and the Lamb ! Praise Him, ye sons of the 
morning ! Bless thou the Lord, my soul ! 

May 19. — Many of the unsaved of last night, forward 
for prayer to night, with consciences still unappeased. I 
did not preach, being Monday. That preacher among the 
hills of Germany well understood such exhibitions of con- 



NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 39 

science, "when he exclaimed, f'^ Jacob robbed of his sons; 
Job on the smoking ashes of his happiness ; Jeremiah on 
Jerusalem's ruins ; Hezehiah on his couch, mourning like 
a crane ; — what are these when compared with the 7nise- 
ries of an awakened conscience!'' Ay ! and how awfully 
convincing are such miseries of the necessity of just such 
a sacrifice for sin as was exhibited on Calvary ! ! what 
could we have done last night, had we not had a Saviour — 
an atonement — a pardon through faith in a Saviour's blood 
to offer those distressed sinners. Many of them returned 
to their homes happy ! 

May 20. — Power in preaching; — intellect and tongue 
on fire ! Enabled to fix my eye^ now on Jesus, next upon 
the Spirit for aid, and lastly, upon the people for effects ; — 
as I have seen the helmsman fixing his eye upon a star, 
then upon the chart, and next upon the compass, then up 
upon the well-spread and swelling sails aloft, and so we 
sped our way across the ocean; — so I was enabled to keep 
on preaching, watching, believing, — watching for effects, 
and the proper moment for closing and for beginning the 
prayer meeting. A season of power and victory. 

May 21. — Some freedom ; — shining, without burning, is 
a sort of treason to the Gospel. A successful preacher must 
resemble John the Baptist, in two respects — shining and 
burning ; — shining, — with intellectual wealth, — power, — 
brilliancy ; burning, — heart on fire — affections in a blaze — 
words like jealousy, as coals of fire which have a most 
vehement flame, as Solomon speaks. 

Jesus said John the Baptist " was a burning and a 
shining light;" and I observe, "burning" stands first! 
That suits me ! for, somehow, when I visit a place, I burn 
rather than shine, and that either raises the devil among 
the people in opposition ; or makes them retire displeased, 
«'heis no preacher,'' and resolve upon neutrality ov in- 
difference. Then comes the tug of war^ in either case ; but 



40 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

opposition is preferable to indifference. After burning 
awhile, some think I begin to shine a little, and before 
long I somehow emerge from the clouds ! Would like to 
burn a7id shine at once, in the beginning of a conflict ; but 
then " the offence of the cross might cease," as the Apostle 
hints ; and I might please men, without converting them, 
and risk more trouble of mind than opposition ever gave 
me, or indifference either; — a suspicion of what St. Paul 
deprecated, " Bo I seek to please men f for if I yet pleased 
men, I should not be the servant of Christ.'' Gal. 1 : 10. 
It is hard to shine, without some desire to please men ; to 
burn as well as shine is an antidote. The Baptist burned 
and shined at once, I suppose, and soon gathered all Judea 
about him. However, Jesus hinted to some of John's 
hearers, '^ And ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his 
light'' — ''for a season," — only for a season ; — which John 
recognised before he lost his head, " I must decrease." 
Now, it is better, perhaps, to burn at first, without shining, 
and increase ; than to burn and shine in the start, and then 
decrease ! There is some philosophy in this view, and it 
may do me good in humiliating times hereafter. Amen. 
However, let me be prepared to say, ''Amen," to my 
Lord's will, whichever way he may be pleased to order my 
beginnings ! 

May 22. — The work spreads on every hand ; — as if it 
would carry everything before it. adorable Jesus, ride 
on, till all are subdued ! 

May 23. — Saturday. That is a grand text for holi- 
ness, Mark 11 : 24, " What things soever ye desire when 
ye pray, believe, Sfc." This makes prayer heart-work, and 
therefore sincere, as Fenelon observes, I remember: " The 
true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart only prays 
for what it desires." To pray, then, is to desire', but to 
desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what 
he docs not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken 



NOTES OP THE REVIVAL IX NOTTINGHAM. 41 

in tliinking that he prays. Let him spend days in reciting 
prayers, in meditation, or inciting himself to pious exer- 
cises, he prays not once truly, if he really desire not the 
things he pretends to ask. Oh ! how few there are who 
pray!'' A valuable hint! It may explain why some 
seekers of full salvation fail in obtaining it. Though they 
pray for it, yet, if from the bottom of their heart they do 
not desire it, they pray in vain: " Crod is 7iot moched^'' 
says St. Paul ; that is, he will not permit himself to be 
mocked; — he will rebuke those who attempt it thus, ly 
leaving them to themselves. A stirring pointy this ! 

To pray for what is not really desired^ must be classed 
among some other enigmas so prevalent among professors 
of religion. But there is a causa ; — an univillingness^ as 
Fenelon somewhere remarks, to embrace the whole will of 
Crodj in crosses^ — external and internal humiliation^ — re- 
nouncement of our own wills, — the death of self and the • 
establishment of God's throne upon the ruins of self love — 
not to desire these, is not to pray — to desire them seri- 
ously, soberly, constantly, and with reference to all the 
details of life, this is true prayer ; not to desire them, and 
yet to suppose we pray, is an illusion like that of the 
wretched who dream themselves happy ! How necessary, 
my soul ! to be plain and home with all these ima- 
ginary desires after perfection. These are the causes — 
the voluntary causes, which prevent the true prayer of the 
heart, and which render so many prayers fruitless. Lord 
help me to be round and home with my hearers upon these 
points ; — ay, and with myself also ! Amen. 



4* 



42 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

CHAPTER IV. 

MORE NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

May 25. — Monday. Yesterday was a day of power. 
Turn or Die. Preached in the full spirit thereof ; — two 
terrible words these ; — so repulsive^ and yet so true, — 
<'the undoubted truth of God/' as one exclaimed. Turrh 
or Burn, equally true ; equally repulsive and unwelcome. 
And many wisely thought with one, " It is easier to hear 
of this burning in Hell, than to feel it!" To be sure it 
is ! and better be a flaming brand plucked out of the fire 
here, than, finally, become one of the firebrands of Hell 
hereafter ! 

Some think I am mad, others say it ; others, '« He is 
an awful man, — driving the people mad." Others, '' harsh, 
hard, and unbearable.'' Ay ! thinking of Luther's apo- 
logy for himself, " The shell may be hard, but the kernel 
is soft and tender !" Physical aspect and language hard 
enough for sore consciences ; but, and blessed be God for 
it ! my heart is soft and tender, and that is the reason why 
the multitudes are not repelled by the hard shell, but 
drawn towards it ; — the kernel, — the soft and tender and 
loving and sympathetic heart draws them strangely in spite 
of them ! 

The shell hiU fearfully hard; but the sermon, like the 
preacher, has a kernel in the heart of it ! A blow from 
the shell [the sermon] stuns some and wounds others, and 
they fly ; others remain and break the shell that hits them, 
and find the kernel of salvation in it ! 

Afternoon. Must keep on. The surgeon minds not the 
patient's plaints, murmurs, exclamations, and impatience 
under the knife ; life must be preserved at any cost ; — it 
must be done ; — he means his patient no harm, but good ; — • 



MORE NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 43 

yet the patient thinks him a hard^ cruel man ; — the sur- 
geon bears it, knowing that if he save his life, he will 
think and feel otherwise by-and-by ! A lesson for thee, 
my soul ! But, how much courage and resolution are 
needed ! Surely yes ! I can well understand why some 
ministers shrink from doing this ; — and, as a consequence, 
leave their hearers as they found them ! 

Evening. How much wisdom is needed in dealing with 
troubled consciences ! How much wisdom and tenderness 
with New Converts ! — with those who have evidently re- 
ceived grace^ but who have been set a doubting by Satan's 
siftings. Luke 22 : 31. Or from the fact that the title of 
their adoption has been dimly written at the first upon 
their hearts ; or the characters thereof in letters so small 
that the weak eyes of the conscience cannot read it clearly. 
what trouble then ! 

Less reasoning and more believing is a good advice ; or 
twenty looks at Jesus for one look at self; or look in- 
wardly less and upward more ; or pray for a clearer wit- 
ness of the Spirit. Rom. 8 : 16. '' The beams of the sun 
are paraphrases upon his own essence^'" says an old writer. 
And are they not paraphrases also upon his own produc- 
tions in the scenery around us ? and as so many paraphrases 
upon the solid and more unmanageable features of the 
landscape ; — the beams of the sun reveal them, — show them 
to advantage, — their positions^ — magnitudes^ — colours. 

But the beams of the Spirit are not only as so many 
paraphrases upon his own essence or nature, but upon his 
own work in the new convert's heart. The title of adop- 
tion appears clear and satisfactory under his shining ! — the 
characters in which it has been written on the tablet of 
the heart brighten and enlarge wonderfully under his 
shining ; and his light too is so healing to the weak eyes 
of a relapsing conscience ! 

Daylight is pleasant, but pleasanter still with sunshine. 



44 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

There may be the daylight of religion in the soul without 
the sunshine of religion ; — and, like the air at daybreak, it 
is cold, and the aspect of things dreary and uncertain ; — 
the beams of the Holy Spirit are wanting. Satan is a 
thief and a murderer, and darkness suits him best. The 
Spirit of God gives light and sunshine, and the treacher- 
ous designs of the adversary are detected. 

However, the New Converts are, generally, very clear 
and triumphant. There is great strength in Zion^ and the 
children born of her are strong and lively ; — soon able to 
help themselves, and to help others also ! 

May 26. — What is speedily taken up, is often speedily 
throivn down, I notice this in some. The Gospel may 
come in word only, but not in power ; — words of light and 
not words of fire. With '^ words of light,'' people can 
play and amuse themselves. They are taken up readily 
and gladly, — as in the case of Herod, who heard John the 
Baptist gladly, and did many things. Mark 6 : 20. John 
must have been shining then, to have such a sinner as 
Herod hearkening to him <^ gladly ;'' but he soon began 
to burn as well as shine, and then off went John's head ! 

Words of light are pleasant things, — ('('like apples of 
gold in pictures of silver,'' and people fall in love with 
them. But when they turn into words of fire, and begin 
to burn and melt, such people become of another mind, 
drop them hastily as they took them up, and stand aloof. 

But, as it usually happens, I cannot lighten without 
shooting bolts, — why, matters are soon brought to a crisis 
of life or death — fall or fly — one or the other. 0, my 
Lord, ''who is sufficient for these things?" That was 
Paul's exclamation, and it may well be mine. 

May 27. Wednesday. — 0, dear me ! what a hurley- 
burley, topsy-turvey, slap-dash, sort of time that was in 
preaching ! Plenty of material for critics and fault-finders, 
I'll warrant you ! Never mind ! sinners and deceived pro- 



MORE NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 45 

fessors were thrown into tribulation^ and many saved ! I 
like that idea of Baxter^ that if you send a man a journey^ 
you would like him none the better for standing and ques- 
tioning, and scrupling every step he goes whether he set 
the right foot before ? or whether he should go in the foot- 
path^ or in the road ? or rather that he would cheerfully 
go on, not thinking which foot went foremost; and rather 
have him step a little beside the path^ and in again^ than 
to stand scrupling^ when he should be going on ? Or, if you 
send reapers into the harvest, which would you like better, 
he asked, him that would stand scrupling how many straws 
he should cut down at once, and at what height ; and with 
fears of cutting them too high^ or too low, too many at once, 
or too few, and, after all, accomplish little or nothing in 
reaping down the harvest ? Or, whether you would not 
rather like him who does the work cheerfully as well as he 
can ? — Ay ! Baxter understood it ! 

Well, although I know, verily, that I did not go wrong 
in doctrine, not once ; — but really, I did get off the beaten 
track, of what is called sermonizing, pretty often, and off 
my own intended track as many times as a squirrel upon a 
tree ! Nevertheless, truth kept on the track to the sinner's 
conscience ; and, in the prayer-meeting, men and women 
fell like Baxter's straw before the reapers ! — some high, 
some low — some one way, some another ; — but down they 
came ! and with such a cry, that betokened they were cut 
to the heart ! 

May 28. — Ah me ! How humbling and weakening to 
one's faith is a hard time in preaching ! What one said 
of prayer without faith, may be said of preaching without 
faith ; — it is like a gun discharged without bullet ; — rather 
should he not have said, like a bullet rolling out of a gun 
without the compulsion of gunpowder ! 

Well, blessed be God for sincerity ! Had I been void 



46 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

of that, as of power, I should have felt myself a contempti- 
ble creature. This has often been a comfort to me. 

It is with a preacher^ as with a precious stone we read 
of — ^that it lost its virtue^ if not incased in gold ; — he loses 
his virtue^ or unction^ if he ever had it, when he loses his 
sincerity. The former may be fable — this is fact ; — his 
hearty — zeal^ — efforts^ — all must be cased in the gold of sin- 
cerity^ in order to be acceptable to God. Indeed, without 
it, there can be neither beginning nor progress in a reli- 
gious life, to say nothing of the work of the ministry. 

But sincerity has not always the company of fire and 
energy ; and fire and energy are not always in alliance 
with sincerity; — when united^ they make a successful 
preacher ; — when disjoined, we have inefficiency or hypo- 
crisy. Both are to be deprecated; but I would rather 
have inefficiency than hypocrisy. But God preserve me 
from both. Amen ! 

May 29.—Grold may be bought too dear ! — a single 
thought may carry one too far in the pulpit. It may be 
gold, and yet cost one too much ; — may be pursued far- 
ther than it pays; — «' What good?'' — this is the English 
of the Latin proverb ; for, " what good V was the favourite 
interrogatory of the old Latinists, with regard to any- 
thing of questionable benefit ! Be careful, my soul, lest 
in pursuing what appears to be a golden thought, the 
angels of God detect thee chqsing butterflies, or hunting 
feathers ; — innocent and harmless in themselves, they may 
be, as the Psalmist's dove, whose wings were covered with sil- 
ver, and her feathers of yellow gold ! Ps. 68 : 13. But 
thereby to miss an opportunity of winning souls to Christ, 
which may be lost to Heaven or to thee for ever, it ceases 
to be innocent and harmless; — it is criminal, and may 
bring a blight on thy ministry for months to come. but 
it is an easy thing to grieve the Holy Spirit! but the 
consequences are not easy ! 



MORE NOTES OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 47 

But how good and forbearing is the Holy Spirit ! — " for 
if we sin ivilfully^'' says the Apostle. Ay ! that is it ! In 
the heat of pulpit ardour^ the honest soul, — like an impe- 
tuous officer in a battle, may pursue an enemy too far, and 
jeopard his troops, — thinking all the while, he is only 
doing his duty, till, to his sorrow, and when too late, per- 
haps, he perceives his error. " But there is forgiveness 
with thee, that thou mayest he feared'' — thou knowest even 
a minister s frame, that it is but dust, and that he has this 
treasure of the gospel in an earthen vessel. 

And what a proof of the forbearance of the Spirit, in 
allowing no diminution of powers or success in the prayer 
meeting ! But this is not the first victory that has been 
won, more by the valour of officers and troops, than by 
the wisdom, and foresight, and good generalship of the 
Commander-in-Chief ! ! 

May 30. — Saturday. Purity last night. And after 
preaching it, what a heavenly and holy tincture and unut- 
terable sweetness does it leave upon the mind ! — one of 
the rewards of preaching it ! 

That promise in Mark 11 : 24, seldom fails, as an ap- 
plication. When a conviction for purity has been awak- 
ened, and a desire ; no time should be lost in telling them 
how to obtain it. But such a promise is the readiest and 
surest in the New Testament for that purpose. It pos- 
sesses an amazing power, if handled by a sure, steady, 
obstinate, ardent, and undeniable faith and confidence in 
the veracity of Jesus ; but vehemently guarding them 
against that nonsensical sentiment, ^' Believe that you 
have it, and you have it," — a rock upon which many split 
in the days of Mr. Wesley ; and which, for a short time, 
quite took the gales of grace out of the sails of the 
Methodist ship. Even Fletcher himself was perplexed. 
Writing to Charles Wesley, Sept, 20, 1762, he remarked 
on the troubles in Methodism upon this subject, thus : 



48 THE TRIUMPH OP TRUTH. 

'' The ' Crede quod hahes et habeSj'"^ is not very different 
from those words of Christ, ' What things soever ye desire 
when ye pray^ believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have 
them.' The humble reason of the believer^ and the irra- 
tional presumption of the enthusiast, draw this doctrine 
to the right hand or to the left. But to split the hair, — 
here lies the dilEculty. I have told you that I am no 
party man: I am neither for nor against the witness for 
Christian Perfection, without examination. I complain 
of those who deceive themselves ; I honour those who do 
honour to their profession ; and I wish we could find out 
the right way of reconciling the most profound humility 
with the most lively hopes of grace. I think you insist 

on the one, and M on the other ; and I believe you 

both sincere in your views. God bless you both, and, if 
either of you go too far, may the Lord bring him back.'* 
Loving, blessed Fletcher ! 

Well, the results last night were glorious, indeed ! and 
many scores have been saved this week. Glory be to 
God! 

Saturday Afternoon, May 80. — This is indeed an as- 
tonishing outpouring of the Holy Spirit, such as has 
never been known in Nottingham in so short a time. 
Since the 10th inst., nineteen days, over eight hundred 
persons have professed to obtain pardoning mercy and 
purity of heart. Of these six hundred are trophies of 
divine forgiveness ; about three hundred joined the Wes- 
leyans in town ; other denominations have claimed a share, 
and the neighbouring circuits are reaping a harvest. All 
the glory is due to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

■'*" Believe that you have it, and you have it. 



PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN NOTTINGHAM. 49 

CHAPTER V. 

PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN NOTTINGHAM. 

The following notice of this great revival in Notting- 
ham appeared in a religious newspaper, about this time. 

'f' Nottingham North Circuit. — The labours of Mr. 
y Caughey in Nottingham continue to be crowned with 
great success. He has, indeed, found in Nottingham a 
people prepared by the Lord. His coming up amongst 
us has been somewhat like the tumbling of the barley- 
cake into the camp of the Midianites. Judges 7 : 13. 
That highly esteemed minister of Jesus Christ, the Rev. 
James Everett, who attended one of our meetings a few 
weeks ago, after passing a high eulogium upon the cha- 
racter and abilities of Mr. Caughey, remarked, 'James 
Caughey is a man who has thrown all hell into a state of 
astonishment, and put the devil on the look out, wonder- 
ing what to expect next.' The crowds that flock to the 
house of God, every service, prove, not only that great 
interest has been excited, but that the Spirit of God is at 
work on the minds of the people. His style of preaching 
is at once pleasing and impressive ; perfectly free from 
affectation, there is no theatrical display ; his action itself 
is eloquence — 'the eloquence of nature.' There is an 
evident attempt to conceal his abilities ; yet, despite of 
himself, the attributes of his mind will ' speak out.' There 
are occasional flashes of oratory worthy of Demosthenes. 
When denouncing the 'deep, damning sins of the people,' 
he comes down with an impetuosity which takes the con- 
gregation by storm. His is the eloquence of feeling — the 
true eloquence of the heart — sometimes distilling as the 
refreshing dew of the summer's eve, at others resembling 
the headlong dash of the mountain torrent or 
5 



60 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

** The live thunder, 
Which leaps from cliff to cliff." 

But <the best of all is, God is with him/ He is em- 
phatically a man of one business ; he feels that he has 
come on an awful mission, and his mind bends humbly 
beneath the responsibility. Over his audience he wields 
a solemn and tremendous power. There is an unction 
attending his ministry which demonstrates, not only that 
he preaches, but that he lives for souls. He stands before 
his audience like another Isaiah, fresh from the visions of 
the Lord. Last Sabbath was a day long to be remembered 
in Nottingham ; it was, indeed, the day of the Lord's 
power, in which the people offered themselves willingly. 
Nearly two hundred came forward and gave their names, 
professing to have received some special good. Many 
cases of an interesting character might be enumerated. 
We hope that the reverend gentleman's stay in the town 
will be protracted, and that thousands may be brought to 
God as seals to his ministry. Amen." 



CHAPTER VL 



In our programme of this volume, we promised a few 
of Mr. Caughey's characteristic sermons and addresses. 
The reader has just been perusing what may be termed 
life in private during soul-saving effort ; in the following 
pages he has life in public developed in bringing sinners 
to God. 

In one we behold the servant of God humbling himself, 
and judging himself before God ; — in the other, — these se- 
lections from his ''pulpit life^' we behold him, before men, 



ORDER OF PREACHING IN A REVIVAL. 51 

bold and uncompromising. These discourses touch upon 
some great principles. Our space is limited, or more of 
such discourses would have been inserted. 

ORDER OF PREACHING IN THE BEGINNING OF A REVIVAL 

EFFORT. 

I am in the habit of replying to inquiries, or objections, 
before text ; therefore let those concerned listen. 

1. As to which class of hearers to be '' dealt with** first, 
in the beginning of such an effort as this, — Church mem- 
bers^ or sinners of the worlds I have no particular rule,^^ — 
nothing stereotyped, , My aim is to attend closely to the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to follow that whereso- 
ever it may lead, with a guileless faith^ boldly and coura- 
geously, neither courting smiles^ nor i^divrng frowns. 

2. It is written, indeed, that '^ Judgment must begin at 
the house of God ;'' and as a general thing it is well to 
begin with the church. There are places and times, how- 
ever, when it is well to begin at once with sinners. The 
Spirit will decide as to that, when the preacher is simple 
of heart, having only one desire and one aim, to do the 
greatest possible amount of good in the shortest time. 

3. It is well to be round and plain with the church ; — 
not merely as regards her character as developed in the 
general membership ; — there is a great deal of this gene- 
ral sort of preaching, which means nobody in particular. 
Effective preaching takes fast hold of individual members. 

Take a case in hand: — one who entertains '' strong 
hopes of Heaven,** but whose doubts that he has ever been 
born of the Spirit, are just as strong. Now there may 
be more of like character, therefore, it may not be amiss 
to deal faithfully with this one case. 

We have information from the throne of God in Heaven, 
that no unregenerate soul has any place there. That a 
law has been passed, enduring as that throne, that unless 



52 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

we are horn from above, we shall never enter there. And 
most IMPRESSIVELY, and convincingly, has the awful fact 
been made known to us ; — more so indeed, than, if as 
many angels, and disembodied spirits, as there are faces 
now present, should a^ppear at once, and declare it to us. 
But how, in such a case, could we doubt ? Would we not 
become alarmed, and begin to look about us, lest we should 
be shut out of Heaven for ever ? Hearken ! Jesus Christ 
has declared unto us the awful fact, John 3 : 3, «« Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee. Except a man he horn again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of Grod.'' Is not that more impressive 
and convincing, than if as many spirits had announced it 
in our ears as there are people in this town ? Lord, 
awaken us to the tremendous fact. 

4. Again : another is present, whose hopes are founded 
upon a kind of half-repentance, and half-conversion, and 
that the duplicate or counterpart will arrive in time, or be 
wrought out, before death works in ; — a most dangerous 
deception. 

But, as there may be more, who, like Groldsmith, have 
i^ a knack at hoping'' after this sort, I think it not unpro- 
fitahle to allow such an one a pretty large investment in 
my discourse ; — crying in his ears the startling warning 
of good old Richard Baxter: '' half -conversions are the 
undoing of many souls.'' If you are but like Agrippa, 
Acts 26 : 28, ^' Almost thou persuadest me to he a Chris- 
tian,'' you will be but almost saved. Many thousands of 
those who are now past help, have had the word come 
near them, and cast them into fear, and made some trouble 
in their souls, awakening their purposes — consciences — 
promises, — and affecting some half-reformations. * * * * 
But where is the promise in the Scriptures, that you shall 
be pardoned if you almost repent and believe? But, on 
the contrary, you are told that you must be plainly re- 
solved to turn or die, though you almost turn ; and repent 



ORDER OF PREACHING IN A REVIVAL. 53 

or perish^ though you almost repent ; — that you shall not 
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, without conversion and 
a new births though you come ever so near it ! * * * * 
* * * As you love your own soul, therefore, do not 
stand dodging and halving with God ; — a half-unsound 
convert will as certainly perish as a drunkard or a whore- 
monger^ though his torments may not be so great. * * 
***** If you have a wound or a sore^ and you tam- 
per with salves not agreeable to it, or badly applied, or 
but shinned over^ and not searched to the bottom ; — it 
must be opened again, and cost double pain and trouble. 
******* jfg^ Ij^qI^qyi bone^ or joint out^ happens 
to be badly set at first, what torments must be endured to 
have it re-stretehed, and re-set ; — which might have been 
spared, had it been thoroughly done at first.'' The appli- 
cation is easy ; and it is after such a manner I frequently 
address such deceived and miserable professors ; — and such 
considerations I would commend to the parties concerned 
in this congregation. 

5. As I said at the beginning, I have no rule as to the 
time of taking such professors in hand ; — only as I become 
acquainted with particular cases by personal intercourse ; 
or when they are mysteriously laid upon my heart by the 
Holy Spirit ; — then / draw the boiv at a venture ; and if 
directed aright there is sure to be a cry, and the soul is 
forthcoming, in whom the arrow of the Lord is found 
sticking and rankling. 

6. It is plain also that such a course is beneficial to the 
New Converts. I did intend to say more, but must reserve 
it for another time. If I have not as yet been so pointed 
with professors in N., it is because I have not found my 
mind so led. But you may have enough of it before I bid 
yon farewell. The case of poor sinners living in the ranks 
of sin, has quite absorbed all my energies. The results 



54 THE TRIUxMPH OF TRUTH. 

you now behold all around you. Bless thou the Lord, 
my soul ! 



CHAPTER VII. 

MANNER OF DEALING WITH THE CHURCH. 

Your attention just here for a few moments ; and let 
those concerned therein hearken especially. 

1. I am no "flatterer ;'' I abhor it; and equally so to 
be "an accuser of the brethren;'' that is devilish^ Rev. 
12: 10. And, like the Arch-accuser, 1 should expect 
soon to be " cast doivn,'' as all are, from soul-saving power 
and success, who allow themselves in the accursed prac- 
tice. 

2. But may not a preacher give credit to a deserving 
church, without being subject to the charge of flattery ? 
Credit where credit is due, is equal to the injunction "Honor 
to whom honor is due,'' It is the delight of my heart to 
honor a faithful church, — and just such a church worships 
in Wesley chapel, in N. ! 

3. But you have not been present every night, perhaps. 
Those who have know how searching has been the word, — 
searching the inmost of the soul ; and probing to the depths 
the flaws both in the outward and inward character. Credit 
to whom credit was due. Censure to whom censure was 
duo. 

4. Never better example than that in our Lord's mes- 
sages to the seven Asiatic churches. How ingeniously 
does he give them credit for every good quality which 
they possessed, before he charged home upon them their 
respective offences and delinquencies ! 

6. Of one church, — the church at Ephesus, — he speaks of 
knowing ihm worhs^ — labor, — patience, — hatred of evily-r 



MANNER OF DEALING WITH THE CHURCH. 55 

spiritual discernment^ and perseverance in well-doing ; — 
and even doubles upon their patience and unfainting labour ^ 
as two of their most predominant virtues. 

But next came that ominous '('Nevertheless^'' and a 
charge,— of having forsaken their first love, — that in this 
respect they were a fallen church ; — urging them to re- 
miemher from whence they had fallen, and to repent and do 
their first works ; accompanied by an awful warning, that 
in case of neglect, the severest penalties should be visited 
upon them. But, lest they should sink into despondency, 
he noticed another of their virtues, that they hated the 
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which he also hated. 

6. To another church, — that at Pergamos, — he gave 
credit for general good works, though located where Satan 
had his seat ; and of faithfulness midst scenes of martyr- 
dom for the faith of Jesus. Then came the charge of, ^' / 
have a few things against thee,'' which were named, — and 
that, unless they repented, he would certainly fight against 
them with the sword of his mouth, 

7. The church at Thyatira is next addressed, and 
credit given for their works, — charity, — service, — faith, — 
patience, — works, — works are mentioned twice, — with a 
note of intimation, that so far from slackening in these 
virtues, they were more actively engaged in them than 
ever. Oh ! who could anticipate a charge against such a 
working faithful church ? But it followed immediately ; 
and must have greatly humbled them ; — a charge of neglect 
of discipline, in allowing an unholy woman and other 
impure persons to remain among them ; — tribulation is 
threatened. But, Jesus, how tenderly considerate thou 
art ! how careful to prevent discouragement ! for thou 
didst send a sweet message to thy chosen ones, who had 
not known the depths of Satan in their conversation ; — 
that thou wouldest put upon them no other burden, than 



56 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

that they had already, to hold fast until thou earnest to 
take them home to glory ! 

** Jesus, lover of mankind, 
"Who would not his soul and mind, 
With all his strength to thee unite !'* 

8. The church at Sardis is next addressed ; and the 
charge is, of having a name to live, and was dead. Here 
the charge comes before credit was given for any good 
remaining therein. But how instantly that follows, and 
how difficult to be expressed, it was so little ! — some things 
which needed strengthening, and which were ready to die ; 
— and works, which were far from being perfect before 
Grod, but which gave them a reputation among men for 
being alive in religion, because they performed after a 
sort the activities of a living church. These commenda- 
ble qualities they were exhorted to holdfast, and at the 
same time to rep>ent of their hackslidings, and to watch, 
that his coming to call them to death and to judgment, 
might not find them unprepared. 

how carefully ! how minutely does our Lord appear 
to have searched for some good thing, however small, to 
pass to the credit of ihsit fallen church! — and not alto- 
gether without success. The picture is a melancholy one ; 
but enlivened by the recognition of a few names even in 
Sardis, which had not defiled their garments ; — to whom 
he sent a cheering promise, that they should one day walk 
with him in white, for they were worthy ; — a great com- 
fort must this have been to ihsit faithful few. Blessed be 
the name of Jesus ! 

9. There are three other churches of the seven, yet un- 
noticed. Two of these were found entirely faithful ; — the 
church at Smyrna, and the church in Philadelphia. The 
last and the worst, was the church of the Laodiceans, to 
whose credit not one good trait is set down, or acknow- 



MANNER OF DEALING WITH THE CHURCH. 57 

ledged ; — ^the most wretchedly backslidden of them all^ — 
the wealthiest and wickedest of all the seven, 0, with what 
severity, they deserved to be reproved ; and reproved they 
were, — and yet in love^ — '' As many as I love^ I rebuke 
and chasten : be zealous therefore and repent.'' Jesus, 
how couldest thou bear any love for such a fallen people ! 
But thou didst love them still ! and as a proofs thou didst 
lavish upon them richer promises than upon all the rest, 
on condition of their repentance and thorough reforma- 
tion. blessed be thy name, Jesus, for ever and ever ! 
for thy name deserves to be above every name ! Amen. 

10. It was not my intention to have dwelt so long upon 
this subject; but if any present desire to prolong the 
meditation^ you can. Read when you retire to night the 
second and third chapters of Revelation. May it bring 
you to your knees in grateful joy^ or in deep humiliation 
and repentance. 

11. But here let me add, never was there a better sam- 
pler for a preacher to pattern after, when he sets out for 
a faithful effort to reform, raise, elevate and revive a 
backslidden church ; — the not observing of which, is the 
cause of much evil, and deeper deaths even under a faith- 
ful and searching ministry ; — that was not a bad idea of 
one, that a church, like a top^ may be lashed asleep ! — 
ay ! and a church, like a tree^ may be trimmed or pruned 
to death ! 

When stationed in Plattsburg, N. Y., a few years 
ago, and taking a turn or two through the graveyard^ 
I noticed near to the fence a tall tree, trimmed to the top, 
like a broom. It looked pitiful, sickly, and dying. I in- 
quired of a boy why they had so treated the poor tree ? 
'^ Because, sir, it shaded and injured the crop in the field,'' 
was the reply. Ay ! but by lessening its shadow you have 
killed the tree, — pruning and killing have been made to 
go together in this case ! I walked away reflecting that 



58 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

thus and thus may a weak and discouraged church be cor- 
rected to death. 

12. And now a word of caution. Let no one misunder- 
stand me. The church needs to have plain dealing^ — 
plainj searching preaching ; — must have it, or the Devil 
would soon convert it into a " synagogue of Satan !'' All 
I plead for is, that in so doing, it may be modelled, much 
as possible, after our Lord's message to the seven Asiatic 
churches. 

13. One remark more. Many days may not pass, be- 
fore this church may be made to pass under the severest 
ordeal of Truth. Jesus, our great Pattern, was very con- 
siderate, when he said to his disciples, '^ I have yet many 
things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now.'' So 
also was St. Paul to the church at Oorinth — " / have fed 
you with milk, and not with meat : for hitherto ye were 
not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.'' Well, 
then, give me time, and judge nothing before the time. 
Covet not random strokes, which may fall upon the inno- 
cent instead of the guilty. Let me first see the wrong, before 
I strike at it. I have no wish to imitate Virgil's towering 
Dares, who 

"Stalk'd high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare, 
And dealt his whistling blows in empty air /" 

Wait a little till I see more, and know more. Perhaps, in- 
stead of judging me worthy of the title of ''Flatterer," 
because I do not strike at what you see and I cannot see, 
you may stigmatize me ere long, especially if I touch your 
own foibles or follies, as an unamiable Oensurer, or a trou- 
blesome Cynic! 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 59 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 
A SERMON. 

^''FoT we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is 
perfect is come, then that ivhich is in part shall be done away." 

1 Cor. 13: 9, 10. 

1. The words of my text may apply to our mode of 
existence in Heaven^ or to the mode of existence in Hell ; 
or both : prophesy^ — that is foretell., or if it please you 
better, teach of the mode and manner., — the happiness and 
misery of both states of existence. But, observe, only in 
part., — not in full; — not as angels, and disembodied spirits, 
good or bad, could, had they permission. No ; we must die 
to know the whole, ere we cease to know in part and to 
prophesy in part. 

When we shall have entered upon the eternal state of 
Heaven above, or Hell beneath, " then that which is in 
part shall be done away.'' We shall then know of one 
or other state, "even as also we are known,'' by spirits 
human, angelic or infernal ; and shall know even as they 
know. This is enough for the present ; — till then we 
must continue to know but in part, and to prophesy but 
in part. And may God help us by his grace to live as 
well as we know how, that we may escape being damned 
at last, we know not how, — nor how deep, — nor how ter- 
ribly. Amen. 

2. You have discovered already, that dj promise of much 
that is new on the subject, has been withheld. You Avill 
not think the less of me for this ; for you know that, 
<< Clouds, alas ! and darkness" rest upon either state of weal 
or woe; and we poor mortals cannot penetrate them, only 



60 THE TRIUMPH OF TBUTH. 

SO far as we are assisted by the word of God^ and by the 
Spirit of God. 

We may say of the state of woe in Hell, what Dr. Adam 
Clarke did of the heavenly state, — that the sublimest pro- 
phets have been able to say but little of it ; and that the 
best preachers have left the Spirit of God much to sup- 
ply ; — and that had we no more religious knowledge than 
we can derive from men and books ; and had we no far- 
ther instruction in the knowledge of God and ourselves, 
than we derive from preaching, our religious experience 
would be low indeed. Yet, he added, it is our duty to 
acquire all the knowledge we possibly can : and, as preach- 
ing is the ordinary means by which God is pleased to 
instruct and convert the soul, we should diligently and 
thankfully use it. For we have neither reason nor Scrip- 
ture to suppose that God will give us that immediately 
from himself, which he has promised to convey only by 
the use of means ; — but, that after all, his Spirit supplies 
much that man cannot teach. may the Holy Spirit this 
hour assist ! 

3. It is not my intention to-night, whatever I may do 
in future, to carry your minds into the unseen glories of 
the upper world, but rather in the direction of those dole- 
ful regions of the lost. And as we all believe with Bax- 
ter, that "it is more easy to hear of Hell than to feel it,'' 
you will follow me patiently; for, perhaps the hearing 
about it, may prevent us from ever feeling it. God grant 
it ; amen ! 

4. Preachers dififer in their treatment of texts : not so 
much in doctrine, often, as in manner. Circumstances de- 
cide the manner ; — those which call or force the mind to 
the text, will influence it in all the discussion. So it has 
been with me frequently ; and so it may be on the present 
occasion. 

5. Let certain " inquiring minds" listen. But allow 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 61 

me to say, I have as little time to spare for speculation in 
theology, as for controversy. In neither of which I indulge, 
especially in my soul-saving efforts. The practical is my 
delight. It is the most profitable. My success is in pro- 
portion as I keep to this. No success is equal to that 
which follows sinner-atvakening^ and soul-converting ^ and 
soul-sanctifying truth ! 

One inquires, " Is it wrong to be less influenced by the 
terrors and agonies of Sell, in prospect, than by the loss 
of the joys of Heaven f To this I reply. No. But if you 
w^ill examine yourself, you would find a mixture of both in 
your anticipations of perdition. Think of that. I may 
have something more to say on the subject, before I con- 
jclude. 

Another inquires, ^ Hell is a terrible idea, — an awful 
situation ; but I try in vain to realize it, — that is, to fix 
the idea before my mind, so as to be able to express or 
conceive of it satisfactorily to myself : can you help me to 
a definite idea of it ?" To this I candidly reply. No ! Our 
Lord calls it '' eternal damnation,'' Mark 3: 29. A soul- 
terrifying phrase ! But who among the living can com- 
prehend the full meaning of it ? Or even St. John's defi- 
nition of Hell, <' the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Giod.'' 
Rev. 19 : 15. He and he alone who in Hell experiences 
it, can comprehend or express it. But none of the damned 
are allowed to syllable it to human ears, or to human un- 
derstandings. 

The only instance that came nearest doing this, is deve- 
loped in that conversation which Jesus Christ allowed us 
to hear, between the rich man in Hell, and Abraham in 
Heaven. The gulf between them was wide, and the con- 
versation was therefore loud enough to be heard through 
the lips of our Saviour. The lost soul attempted to define 
it, but he could get no farther than ''torment,'' or ''cool 
my tongue ; for I am tormented in this flame." Abraham 
6 



62 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

himself, with all the knowledge, language, and eloquence 
of Heaven at command, could come no nearer to it than, 
" thou art tormented.'' Luke 16 : 19-31. The angel which 
John heard proclaiming with a loud voice the torments of 
the damned, could approach a definition of them no nearer 
than to say that they consisted of drinking of the wine of 
the wrath of Grod^ which is poured out without mixture 
into the cup of his indignation ; — that fire and brimstone 
are the terrible instruments thereof; and as to the effects^ 
he could express them in no other words than " the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth.'' And as to the duration 
thereof, the language of eternity could only furnish him 
with these words, <^/(9r ever and ever^" — atwi/aj t'cov atwrcov, 
— ''for ever and ever!'' And i\iQ Judge^in these tor- 
ments, is Jesus Christy the Lamb of Grod^ attended by his 
holy angels, — ''In the presence of the holy angels, and in 
the presence of the Lamb." Locate this Hell where you 
please, but in all the Scriptures of our God, where shall 
we find a threatening of it more terrible than that in Rev. 
14 : 9, 11 ? 

6. What think you of such a glimpse of the torments 
of the damned ? But can you realize the dreadful scene ? 
Can you express to yourself or others your realization of 
it ? No, no ! words are powerless here. Language has 
no colours, though aided by the most vivid imagination, to 
paint or set forth the terrible imagery impressed upon the 
soul ; — you can only realize what a terrible evil sin is, 
which exposes the soul to such a Hell; — you can only 
exclaim with a pious lady in Italy ; << If a man could only 
understand the unspeakable heinousness of sin, even of 
one sin, he would sooner plunge into a fiery furnace than 
commit it. If the sea were made of fire, he would seek 
the companionship of its burning waves, and dwell in the 
midst of them, rather than endure the pang, the hidden 
torment, which sooner or later must develop itself from 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 63 

every transgression !'' But what must it be when stretched 
out into an endless eternity ! thou great and terrible, 
yet most merciful God, preserve me and my hearers from 
such a terrible Hell ! ^ 

7. Baxters idea is worth repeating. ^^ Sell, though 
only one word, yet it signifies divers punishments; and 
Christ, who knows what they are, says, ' Shall be beaten 
with many stripes;' and plainly tells us that it will be 
easier, or more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judg- 
ment, than for those who reject the Gospel." Matt. 10: 
14, 15 ; 11 : 23, 24. And yet there are some who deny a 
Bay of Judgment and a Hell in eternity ! what then did 
our Lord mean by, '(•It shall be more tolerable for Sodom 
and Gomorrah in the day of judgment,'' than for those 
of whom he spoke ! Sodom and Gomorrah had passed 
through their day of judgment, and a terrible one it was ! 
And yet a child would perceive that they are to be impli- 
cated or involved in a judgment yet to come ; and that their 
punishment then will be easier to bear than that of those 
who reject the Gospel ! And even allowing sophistry its 
claim, what does it gain ? Can any punishment upon earth 
be severer than a death midst fire and brimstone ? Where, 
but in the Hell that follows the Judgment of the Great 
Day, can anything be found to exceed it ? 

Who of us can ever forget that soul-horrifying expres- 
sion of Jesus? — ^('Where their worm dieth not, and the 
FIRE is not quenched,'' — repeated no less than three times 
in the same conversation. Ah ! who can imagine the full 
meaning of this ? Dr. Clarke, in his Commentary, tried 
and failed ; — could only say of their worm that dieth not, 
it is «' The bitter reflection, ' I might have avoided sin, but 
I did not: I might have been saved, but I would not,' 
must be equal to ten thousand tormenters. What intole- 
rable anguish must this produce in a damned soul !" And 



64 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUXn. ♦ 

of the fire that never shall he quenched^ he says, " The 
state of punishment is continual ; there is no respite^ alle- 
viation, nor end!'' But ah! that worm that never dies 
leaves something more behind that will haunt the imagi- 
nation and conscience in spite of us ! Could any other 
words have been selected more calculated to do so ? What 
think my hearers ? 

8. Nor can any of you have forgotten, I am sure, that 
" Outer darkness^'' of which our Lord also speaks, where 
he says, there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of 
teeth. And who that has ever read that dreadful sentence 
of his, prepared for the last day, and which he uttered in 
the ears of men as a timely warning, " Depart from me^ ye 
cursed^ into everlasting fire^ prepared for the devil and his 
angels.'' Matt. 25 : 41. Stinging, wounding, killing, ter- 
rible words ! '(> Separation from God is the principal part 
of damnation^" exclaimed one. It was that word ^^i>^- 
part^" in the last sentence, which riveted that conviction 
on his heart, and he never lost the impression till he went 
into Eternity. 

Consider that word, ^« Depart." The greatest curse 
comes first ; and all the rest, — fire^ — the devil and his an- 
gels^ and that awful word everlasting^ — all follow as a con- 
sequence. Alas ! alas ! these comprise all that the soul 
of man has to deprecate in time or in eternity. 

9. Again I solicit consideration : — " Depart from me," — 
as if he expected them to say, ^^ If we must depart, do but 
accompany us, or send us away with thy blessing," But 
no : " Depart from me^ — ye cursed ;" or, as if he antici- 
pated them pleading for a short period of separation^ — or 
to be sent away into a pleasant plaee^ — where, if there 
was no reward^ there might be no punishment ; — and into 
agreeable company ; — but no^ — Depart — ye cursed, — into 
everlasting — fire^ — prepared for the devil and his angels ; — 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 65 

these shall go away into everlasting punishment/' And 
yet, sinner, we prophesy but in part ! How terrible 
then must the whole be, — when that which is perfect is 
come, — even the audible utterance of this dreadful sen- 
tence, in the hearing of an assembled universe ! 

10. Ah! well might one who is now in eternity, ex- 
claim, '' Lord, deliver me at the great day from that 
soul-killing word, 'Depart ;' " and another who is no more 
seen among men, remarked before he died, that the sen- 
tence to be pronounced by Jesus Christ, at the last day, 
breathes out nothing but fire and brimstone^ and terror 
and woe ; — that the depart from me, — the begone from 
my presence, and let me see your faces no more, with the 
curse, — and the consignment^ — the companionship of Hell, 
— and its penal fires ; — altogether, it seemed to him the 
most tormenting and amazing, — the most killing and 
damning, — the most stinging and wounding of anything 
found between the lids of the Bible ! And, I think, there 
is none present who will not agree with him. could 
that man speak out of eternity now, with how much 
greater intensity and emphasis would he re-utter the same 
sentiments ! 

11. But why did he not comment upon the sentence of 
blessedness, or welcome to the delights of Heaven, to be 
pronounced upon the righteous on that day ? '^ Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world,'' Ah ! the loss of the 
soul, — the loss of Christ, — of Heaven, — of angelical soci- 
ety, — of the pleasures that are at God's right hand ; — to 
say nothing of the sure immersion in the torments of the 
damned, affect the soul more seriously while in the body, 
than the anticipation of an escape from the horrors of 
Hell ; — at least so I have thought, sometimes. A mer- 
chant in London lost a fine ship, but many valuable 
things- went down with her; — his mourning foi* the loss 

6* 



66 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

of that ship, far exceeded his joy over his other vessels 
which returned to port in safety. 

12. Indeed this is the great and influential idea of the 
children of God. <«Hell is an eternal separation from 
God." The ^'depart'' from the lips of their Lord, affects 
the children of God more by anticipation, than the incar- 
ceration in everlasting fire with the Devil and his angels. 
The words — '^ shall he punished with everlasting destruc- 
tion^'' uttered by St. Paul in 2 Thess. 1 : 9, 10, affects a 
child of God much less, than what follows, — '^from the 

PRESENCE OF THE LORD, and FROM THE GLORY OF HIS 

POWER ; when he shall come to he glorified in his saints^ 
and to he admired in all them that helieve.'' The idea is 
to him intolerahle ; after which he sees little in the hor- 
rors of hell-fire to excite any greater dread or terror. 

13. A writer of the seventeenth century remarked, 
that the most vivid description of Hell he had ever heard, 
never hlanched his cheek ; and for this reason, his con- 
templations of Heaven always quite absorbed the idea of 
ITell ; — that a fear of losing the joys of the one, rendered 
him quite indifferent to the miseries to be endured in the 
other. He thought the loss of Heaven would be misery 
enough. 

14. This, however, is a higher species of sentimental- 
ism^ than the generality of men attain unto : for with 
many, the idea of HelVs torments quite absorbs the idea 
of the loss of the joys of Heaven, For my part, I con- 
fess to no surprise, that it is so, seeing that the descrip- 
tions of Hell are so terrific in the Scriptures. 

15. There are others, it is true, who take a broader 
view of the subject; — who confess that the loss of the 
favour of God, — of communion with him, — and the loss 
of the soul, and all its enjoyments^ and capacities for plea- 
sure^ — and loss of self-respect^ with the perpetual stings 
of an angry and avenging conscience, — are to them more 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 67 

terrible ideas, than all the horrors of the lake that burneth 
with fire and brimstone. Kev. 20: 15. 

16. BurnSy the poet, had, it would seem, a glimpse of 
the subject, somewhat similar. He would have " Honour's 
grip^'' give a more influential could inspire. But hear 
him : 

<* The fear of HelPs a hangman's whip 
To hand the wretch in order ; 
But when you feel your honour grip. 
Let that be aye your border. 
Its slightest touches^ instant pause- 
Debar a' side pretences ; 
And resolutely keep its laws, 
Uncaring consequences.'' 

17. Now this is all very well ; — and honour s grip, in some 
men, may seem quite sufiicient, without the inspiration of 
fear from a life to come ; — a sense of obligation, — friend- 
ship, — the rules of honour, — education, — self -respect, — self- 
interest, have a powerful influence upon some minds, at 
one time or other of their history. But it is not so with 
the great mass of mankind. Before ever honour gives a 
single grip, the fear of a Hell to come, deny it who can, 
gives the grip to honour itself; — renders the grip of honour 
doubly influential, — certainly more stable and reliable. 

18. To the private experiences of all present, I appeal ; — 
even to that of those who most profess to yield the 
strictest allegiance to the grip of honour ; — whether, in nine 
cases out of ten, that grip has not its pulsations quick- 
ened, and its hold strengthened, by the thought of a life to 
come? True, the inspiration, in some instances, may be 
but as an unconscious influence, but the undercurrent is 
there, and the candid mind " owns upi*' to it afterward. 
All properly regulated principle, is never, in fact, entirely 
without its companionship in any man or woman living. 

19. It is admitted, then, that the dread of such losses 



\ 



68 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

as we have just contemplated, forms a very controlling 
idea in some ; and, separate from the other horrors of per- 
dition, affords a very dismal idea of Hell. And I am not 
sure that Jesus Christ does not refer to it in that awful 
question of loss^ with regard to the soul. '(^For what is 
a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own 
soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.V 
Matt. 16: 26. Loss, is the prevailing idea. However, 
it would require but little talent for argument to prove 
that ''the other idea,'' — of pangs from penal fires, as set 
forth in the Scriptures, as the very Hell of the damned, is 
always more or less associated with the anticipation of 
such a loss, or such losses. 

20. But to the second inquirer, I am free to confess, 
that I have never yet been able to have 2i fixed, definite, — 
permanent impression of what it is to be eternally damned; 
— not at any one time in my mental cogitations. That 
any human being, inhabiting a house of clay, has, I greatly 
question. Let any one try, and he shall find it so. 

21. An eternity that never had a beginning, bewilder- 
ing as it is to contemplate, is easier grasped, and compre- 
hended by my mind, than an eternity that is never to have 
an end; — and that eternity filled up with perpetual 
MISERY. Let any one among us try to throw his mind 
thus backward and forward into the two eter7iities, if I 
may use the phrase, and tell us the results in his experi- 
ence. that dreadful future ! how suddenly, and shadowy, 
does it pass before and over the shuddering imagination, — 
like the shadow of a fleeting cloud over the fields, but too 
transitory to allow you time for measurement ; — it is gone, 
and leaves no trace behind, save in the recollection of the 
beholder, — till another shadow from the same family of 
flying clouds startle him again into observation. It is 
thus the shadows of the miseries of an eternal future, pass 



THE CONDITION OF LOST SOULS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 69 

and repass over the human mind, and haunt it to the last 
moment of its connexion with the body. 

22. All through life they come and go — they form our 
creed in spite of us ; — they come involuntarily ; — and, like 
the shadows too from the flying clouds above us, more in 
some days than others^ — in proportion to perils incurred 
by temptations ; — they pass away involuntarily ; — they 
leave a recollection^ — an ill-defined impression^ but suffi- 
cient to sober and control the ordinary emotions of the 
soul. They come and go again, and with a rapidity which 
the soul is too slow to follow, — too dull to investigate ; — she 
needs the materials and experiences of Eternity, ^'No 
man at any given time,'' says a Scottish writer, '' can call 
Tip and fix before his soul the overwhelming idea of eternal 
damnation. It passes sometimes involuntarily through his 
heart, but its permanent expression is beyond the control 
or colour of words." But from whence come those fleet- 
ing shadows of a miserable future is within the bounds of 
an awful possibility ? and what do they indicate f They 
come from Eternity. They come from God. They indi- 
cate the path of duty^ — of wisdom^ — of safety. They indi- 
cate a substance^ — a reality, as all shadows do. The reality^ 
— an eternal perdition to come, thus represents itself; — 
thus interposes itself, and its terrible shadows, between us 
and the light that shines from Oalvary. It follows or 
attends upon the doctrines of Calvaryj and imparts to them 
a terrible significancy. 

23. They indicate a period when they shall vanish away ; 
— when the shadoivs shall give place to the substance ; — when 
an eternal perdition shall be seen, — felt, perhaps, — under- 
stood, — endured ! They indicate the possibility of better 
things ; of eternal blessedness in Heaven ; — and our duty to 
move in that direction. They indicate a period when this 
prophesying in part shall be done away ; — when this hearing 
and knowing but in part shall have an end ; — when we 



70 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

shall know of Heaven, and know of Hell, as certainly and 
as surely, as God and angels know us. God, prepare 
us for such knowledge as this ! — when we shall see the 
Seaven we have lost or won ; or the Hell we have escaped^ 
or into which we have been plunged. 

24. Those of you who desire clearer ideas upon this 
subject, I would advise to study the Holy Scriptures, and 
the writings of those great minds, who have thought more 
deeply upon the subject than your speaker. Above all, 
pray earnestly to " the Father of lights^'' who, by his illu' 
mination^ can give you a clearer insight into this dreadful 
theme than mortal tongue can convey. 

In the mean time, let us all be wise. Let us, with an 
unquestioning faith^ be wise. I mean, let us resign our- 
selves to the ivisdom which those shadowy visitants from 
that yet undiscovered future would indicate. They serve 
as our guardian angels. Let us beware of rejecting their 
controlling influence. 

25. Woej woe be unto him who, in the face of such 
warnings, persists in ill-doing ! Woe unto him who ne- 
glects a decision which imparts an emphasis of the most 
terrible importance to such visitations ; — even to that dread 
decision of Jesus Christ, " Verily^ verily I say unto thee^ 
Except a man he horn again ^ he cannot see the kingdom of 
Grod." John 3 : 3. And I hereby notify you all, that a 
mistake in this change^ — a failure here, involves the soul 
in all the horrors of a Hell hereafter. The loss of Heaven 
implies a Hell, as sure as a loss of eyesight includes da^^k- 
ness. helieve Jesus, — believe in Jesus, — trust in him 
and be saved. Amen. 



PULPIT FAITHFULNESS. 71 

CHAPTER IX. 

PULPIT FAITHFULNESS. 

A SERMON. 

** 1 speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I say^ 1 Cor. 10 : 15. 

1. What I am about to say may look like an apology for 
what I did say in a discourse which will soon be fresh in 
your memories. Nevertheless, I mean it not as an Apo- 
logy in the modern sense ; although I have no objection 
to the application of the word in the sense the old Theolo- 
gians formerly used it, — ''An apology for the Bihley' — 
not an excuse for the Bible, but a Defence ! 

2. Well, hearken, and judge ye ! There is much in the 
spirit and sentiment of the world and the church in the 
present day, that would do all that Mr. Macartney said it 
would do ; — would draw a veil over sin ; — would break 
down the barrier between right and wrong ; — would call 
evil good^ and good evil ; — would allow every one his own 
way, — Satan a wide way through all, even the dominion 
of the world ; — would break down the distinction between 
the church and the world ; — would bring men to Heaven, 
in the midst of sin and unbelief; — and this they call '' Oha- 
rity^'' even the ^'mild spirit of Christ.'' But is it so? or 
is this the Spirit of the Gospel ? Does it harmonize with 
one of its most unchanging and uncompromising of its 
principles, ''Be not conformed to this world: hut be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may 
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
Godr Rom. 12 : 2. " The mild spirit of Christ,'' is it ? 
" Charity,'' is it ? Nay, but Deviltry, rather ! 

3. What is the spirit of Christ ? What is the spirit of 
the Gospel ? It is to hold up truth, though all the world 
should say it is a lie, with a voice of thunder ! It is the 



72 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

setting one great trutli forward, and in bold open-day re- 
lief, in opposition to the thousand and one lies of the 
world and carnal professors ! 

4. What do the spirit of Christ and the Gospel pro- 
claim ? To make use of Mr. Macartney's idea, '' They 
proclaim that GoD is righteous, and that the world is un- 
righteous ; — they proclaim not only that one way is right, 
but that every other way is wrong.'' The Gospel is indeed 
peace, but it brings a sword. And how does it bring a 
sword ? Just because it declares, not only that one way is 
right, but that every other way is wrong ; and, besides, 
makes an eternal Heaven and an eternal Hell, revolve 
around the tremendous sentiment ! 

6. It was this that awakened the sword of persecution 
against the church, in ancient times, and filled the world 
with martyrdom. It was this uncompromising principle, 
that led the ancient Christians to seal, cheerfully seal, 
their testimony with their blood. It is the same principle, 
fully carried out, that rouses the devil, in and out of the 
church, at the present day. Do you understand me? 
Can you make the application f 

6. But I have wandered from my quotation ; says the 
excellent man, whom I set out to quote, "when the whole 
truth is stated, all the messengers of Satan are against it. 
There is a certain portion of truth that Satan will en- 
dure. One of the Roman Emperors would have added 
Jesus Christ to the number of the gods, and worshipped 
him among them ; but he bitterly persecuted those who 
maintained that he was the only God, and that God one. 
Wherever, therefore, truth is fully proclaimed, there Satan 
will bring the sword against it. He can argue against 
half the truth, — can pervert it to his own purposes, — can 
allure men by pleasure, and profit, if not to give it up, to 
forget it ; but against the whole truth he has but one argu- 
ment,'' — ay! and that is persecution in one form or other. 



PULPIT FAITHFULNESS. 73 

0, but these are mighty facts ! Who that has ever 
preached the whole truth for an undisguised end, has not 
found the Devil's one argument always ready, in some 
spirit and form, suitable to the spirit of the place ! 

7. Hearken, and judge ye ! I am called to be charita- 
ble. Very good ! I like the word. It is like an angeVs 
ivatchword to me. It is the brightest, — the loveliest gem 
in that ehaiii of pearls^ I once found in 1 Cor., 13th chap- 
ter ; — a chain, 0, would to God I might wear it more con- 
stantly, and evidently around my neck, when in the pulpit ; 
and around and under my breastplate ; which, blessed be 
God ! I do wear this day, and He who searches the heart, 
knows it very well. 0, but I do say this in the deepest 
humility ! 

8. Charity is a sweet word to my heart; but were it 
allowed to shoulder owi faithfulness from my pulpit efforts, 
it would soon turn into wormwood. Charity is my favour- 
ite companion ; but were it to interfere with plain dealing 
in preaching, I would show it its place, as I would a med- 
dling wife., if I had one ! 

9. The charity that would cry " peace, peace," e^^^^/i there 
is no peace ; — that would heal the hurt of the daughter of 
my people slightly ; — that would daub with untempered 
mortar ; — that would call darkness light, and light dark- 
ness, — evil good, and good eYily-^bitter sweet, and sweet 
bitter ; — that would allow, sin, unbelief and pride, fashion, 
vanity error and the devil, as wide a berth as pulpit de- 
cency could allow, is not the charity for me. It might 
win me many an acclamation here, but a crashing condem- 
nation hereafter, and perdition with a thunder, from the 
Judge who shall judge the judges. ^^ I speak as unto wise 
men ; judge ye what I say.'' And may our God help us 
all to understand and judge righteous judgment. 

10. my Lord and my God ! weak as I am, — unworthy 
as I am, — unfaithful as I have been, grant me this, 

7 



74 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

even this, — the thunders of the world's anathema^ a thou- 
sand times over, than thine in the world to come. Give 
me, give me, the secret acclamations of my own con- 
science, to support, or drown into silence, the denuncia- 
tions of the Devil, and his confederations. So now from 
henceforth, for the truth,— the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. Amen. 



CHAPTER X. 

SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES — TO SINNERS IN 

ZION. 

A SERMON. 

^^ I speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I say.^^ 1 Cor. 10: 15. 

1. Such was St. PauVs method of address to the Church 
of God at Corinth; and it is my selected motto in your 
behalf, for the present occasion. St. Paul had been speak- 
ing of sin in general, but now^ began to speak of sin in 
'particular, — the sin of idolatry ; and sought to gain their 
attention by these winning words, '' I speak as to wise 
men, judge ye ivhat I say.'' For a similar reason I salute 
your ears with the same words. 

2. The apostle addressed the entire church. That is 
my intention, — all indeed, saint and sinner present : yet 
there are two characters among you whose attention I par- 
ticularly solicit ; — the reasons for which, the audience will 
gather as I proceed. 

3. Were I to assert. Hell is the end of every sin ; that 
is, the scope, drift, or intended landing-place of sin, none 
of you, I presume, would be disposed to question the 



SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 75 

assertion. Nor is it likely Baxter s idea would meet with 
any less favour, especially from the serious portion of this 
audience, — that every temptation to sin, in its naked, 
proper sense, comes from the Devil and tends to the 
damnation of the tempted ; — that it is, as if the Devil was 
saying, ^< Take this for thy salvation : sell for this thy 
God, and thy everlasting hopes ; commit this sin, that 
thou mayest fall under the judgment of God, and be tor- 
mented with me for ever. Do this to please the fleshy that 
thou mayest displease thy God, and grieve thy Saviour. 
I cannot draw thee to Hell^ without drawing thee to sin ; 
and I cannot make thee to sin against thy will ; nor undo 
thee but by thy own consent and doing ; therefore, I pray 
thee, consent and do it thyself, and let me have thy com- 
pany in torments." Ah! Baxter , were Satan so candid 
with those he tempts, as all that, there might be some 
safety or chance of escape for poor sinners ! But, no, he 
conceals his purpose, while he courts their appetite ; — 
makes it out as clearly for their good ; — or rather never 
allows himself to be suspected at all ! Thus, while they 
suppose themselves obeying the impulses of their own free 
willy — or as one observed, sailing down the stream of their 
own free volitions, Satan's hand is all the while at the 
helm ! Terrible thought ! We can neither see him, nor 
hear his voice, no more than we can the torments or 
groans of the lost in Hell ; but the intent of Satan in 
every temptation, is unquestionable. 

3. Were I to classify sins under the title of great and 
little : there is little doubt that the idea would fall in with 
the self-congratulating notions of some. But, if I should 
say, there is no such thing in the universe of God, as a 
little sin, properly speaking, perhaps you would judge it 
''harsh and unreasonable!" Very well: I deny not, 
when sins are compared tvith sins, that one sin is greater 
than another. But when all degrees of sin are compared 



76 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

with consequences in eternity , not one of them can be 
called smalL 

That objection of one, uttered a long while ago, is mine 
also : — that, before I would allow any one to convince me 
there is such a thing as a little siuj I would have him 
prove [1] there is such a being as a little God to sin 
against ; [2] that any man has a little soul to lose ; 
[3] that there are such things as a little Hell and a little 
damnation ! 

4. There is something soothing^ but exceedingly falla- 
cious^ in this method of comparing '' small sins'' with great 
sins ; — imvard sins with outward^ — heart sins with life 
sins, — secret faults with presumptuous follies, that is, pre- 
sumptuous sins ; — Gospel sins with Jail sins. Let us only 
consider the great Grod against whom all sin is commit- 
ted ; — the value of the soul, which every sin perils ; — and 
the terrible and inconceivable damnation to which every 
sin inevitably leads, and what are we to think ? — to what 
conclusion are we to come ? — alas ! that the smallest sin^ 
in view of these facts, swells to the magnitude of a Croli- 
athy before which every sensible man should fly, as did the 
Israelites from its namesake in the vale of Elah ! 

5. Oh ! if we could but see the evil and misery to which 
the smallest sin, humanly speaking, leads, we would rend 
the heavens with the cry of one of old, " Who can under- 
stand his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. 
Keep lack thy servant also from presumptuous sins/' Ps. 
19 : 12, 13. Lord help us to fly from every sin, as from 
the mouth of a serpent. Whatever may have been our 
habits in times past, may St. Johns interdiction ever be 
sounding in our ears, for it is better and safer than all 
such degrees of comparison as I have been assailing : " My 
little children, these things write I unto you, that ye SIN 
NOT.'' 1 John 2: 1. This is the voice of Grod to us in 



SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 77 

all parts of Scripture, and in every department of grace 
and providence. 

6. It is the voice of God in every phase of our expert- 
ence, — whether conscience, like the bee, gives us its honey 
or its sting ; — whether our faith is '^ sublimed to ecstasy," 
or is consigned to agony ; — whether the soid is cheered by 
breezes from Calvary, or is chilled by blasts from Sinai ; — 
whether comforted by zephyrs from fields of Heaven, 
<' where good men walk," or from '^ bowers wherein they 
rest," or we are dejected or tormented by storms from re- 
gions where fiends for ever fight, and where lost spirits 
never rest ; — whether the soul is " blest with a soft spring 
day of holy, mild, delicious pensiveness, with tender fan- 
cies brightened," — with present pardon blest, — and with 
the peace ivhich passeth all understanding, endowed ; or 
" rolling and tossing, sick and weary, upon the billows of 
its own guilt and fears," — or sufi'ering ^'the pinching dis- 
tress of him who kept the Philippian jail, — forcing him 
to cry out, '' Sirs, what must I do to be saved f " Sin 
not.'' Lord, make every conscience vocal with the pro- 
hibition ! 

7. Need I say more? ''Sin not'' is the voice of God 
in all I have mentioned ; and in every thrill of joy, — in 
every throb of conscience, — in every accident or death, — 
in sickness or in health, — in sickness, where a sense of 
pardon takes away the sense of pain, — or where a sense 
of unpardoned sin gives greater pain than the sickness ; — 
in health and prosperity, rendered doubly sweet by a re- 
collection and a feeling that all is right regarding another 
world ; or embittered by the thought that the soul is in 
danger of Hell-fire ; — in adversity, lightened by the conso- 
lation that it is not on account of unpardoned sin, and 
brightened by the prospect of a woi^ld that shall end it for 
ever ; — or, alas ! an adversity blackened and increased ten- 
fold, by the suspicion that it is only the beginning of 



78 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

troubles upon which the grave can never close, nor eter- 
nity ever pronounce an end, 

8. what shall I say? '('Sin not!'' There is not a 
single administration of the Holy Spirit, that is not full of 
the spirit of those words ! — Sin not; — Lord God of our 
fathers, write them on my heart, and upon the hearts of 
all present, as in letters of flame, never to be removed, till 
the heart has given the last stroke, and '' the animal flame" 
is extinguished for ever. Amen ! 

9. Well, I have been speaking of small sins, — that 
they cannot be so, seeing they all lead to no small Hell. 
But I might have spoken of them as an old author did, 
who compared them to the needle that makes way for the 
thread, — they may draw the thread of temptation to larger 
sins ; — that small sins are like the small hones in fish, 
which endanger the eater more than the larger bones that 
are easier detected ! They are like small boys who creep 
through a small aperture, to open the door to larger 
thieves ; — they open the door of the soul to larger sins. 
To which one may add, small sins, like young seiyents, 
grow to large ones ; or like 

*^ Small habits, weU pursued betimes, 
May reach the dignity of crimes /" 

10. Sin is of a spreading nature ; and great sins spring 
out of what the world calls small sins, — hidden heart sins ; 
— just as the leprosy which disfigured the whole man, broke 
out of the hoil; Lev. 13: 20; or out of "a bright spot, 
white, and somewhat reddish.'' Small sins spread into 
great ones; — like the cloud observed by the servant of 
Elijah, from the top of Carmel, little as a human hand, 
rising out of the sea, but which soon spread over all the 
sky, and brought a storm : — such is the spreading nature 
of what you call a small sin. And, until you can prove 
that this is not the nature and tendency o{ every one of 



SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 79 

them, we must beg leave to call it a misnomer ! — a sin 
with a wrong title, — destructive as it is deceptive. 

You have not forgotten the remark with which I 
started, — that Hell is the end, or drift, or terminus of 
every sin. Now judge ye of another remark. 

11. Sin puts an end to all true happiness. This is just 
as true, as Hell is the end of every sin ; though, thank 
God ! as one remarked. Hell is not the end of every sin- 
ner ! No, indeed ! Or we should have all been in Hell 
long ago ! But I will tell you a truth that needs no argu- 
ment : that sin puts an end to happiness in many a pro- 
fessor of religion ! Nor need I go far for illustrations ! 
They are all around me ! 

12. Sin ! it is a deceitful worker ! It will lead the 
soul to the '' burning boundaries of HelF' in search of 
gratification, and all the while it is destroying happiness^ 
and the possibility of happiness. 

13. What was it but this, which made one exclaim, that 
there was nothing in the world he feared more than Sin ? 
It had destroyed his happiness, and created him a hell 
upon earth, — such a hell as he thought exceeded the Hell 
of Eternity. But he found mercy. Blessed be God ! he 
found mercy ! And he was heard to say, count it extrava- 
gant if you please, but he felt all he said ; — that if the 
horrors of sin were on the one hand, and the pains of Hell 
were on the other, and he must choose, he declared he 
would rather leap into Hellj than fall into sin ; — that in 
view of all the bitterness of the past^ he had rather be 
torn in pieces by wild horses^ than commit a known sin 
with deliberation again ! 

14. Alas ! alas for the damned ! If such were the feel- 
ings of a saved sinner upon earth, how terribly multiplied, 
and intensified, must such feelings and perceptions be in 
Hell ! But I am saying what I intended not to say. I 
only meant to lay the basis for an argument, that sin^ — 



80 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

indwelling SIN is the death of happiness ; — that if you 
want to be happy you must end sin ; — you must be holyy 
which you cannot be, nor happy neither, till the blood of 
Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin. '' I speaJc as to 
wise men, judge ye what I say.'' that the Spirit of 
God may accompany my words, else they will be but as 
feathers falling among rocks, or as snow flakes in the 
river ! 

15. Hearken, every professor of religion among you ! 
Away with all this nonsense about little sins^ and great 
sins ; or else let us cease our suspicions of Roman Catholic 
distinctions, between venial and mortal sins ! Most of us, 
I should think, have lived long enough to know that it is 
an evil thing and a hitter^ to sin against God in any way ; — 
long enough to know, that it is " the small foxes that spoil 
the vines J ' — small sins that have produced sad havoc upon 
our peace^ and joy^ and confidence ; — or, if we have not 
closely marked their effects upon ourselves, — listen to the 
testimony of one in Scotland^ — who exclaimed : '^ How 
often have I fallen by little — apparently very little sins ! 
These very little sins have bound my soul in affliction and 
iron ; they have grown up often into awful bulk before the 
eye of conscience, and covered all the coming eternity 
with their shadow of death." 

Judge ye of another remark. 

16. You see, — you feel^ not only the necessity of the 
pardon of sin, but the destruction of indwelling sin. If 
you have not the first, your case is deplorable; if you have 
not the second, it is perilous. 

And now let me ask a question or two, and judge ye. 

17. Is it WISE in you who are unpardoned to remain 
so? 

Is it WISE in you who are unsanctified to remain so ? 
'' / speah as to wise men, judge ye what I say.'* 
Know you not that Satan sees you ? — that as one wisely 



SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 81^ 

remarked, your delay keeps him both in heart and hope ? — 
that you are just giving him time to strengthen your 
prison^ and to multiply your fetters^ — internal and ex- 
ternal ? — ^that you are tempting him to invent new trials — 
new temptations to ruin you ? — that you, by your halting^ 
are provoking him to fresh assaults, — to set you, in fact, 
as a mark for his displeasure and revenge ? 

Know you not, that delay is but giving sin time to 
take deeper root in your nature^ and in your habits ? — 
like the tree, the longer it is suffered to grow, the deeper 
and wider are the roots extended. 

Know you not, that sin in the soul, is like poison in the 
stomach, the longer it is there, the harder it is to be got 
out, and the more unlikely is an escape from death ? 
be persuaded to 'take the remedy now. Behold the Lamb 
of God. how ready is he to take thy sins away, 
sinner in Zion ! Behold his crimson blood, — <>' for you the 
purple current flowed," justified believer ! — to wash 
away all thy heart impurities, and to fill thy soul with a 
new life. defeat not the purposes of God ! Know you 
not, both of you^ that sin, outward or inward^ cannot make 
you happy ? It never has ; — never will ; — never can. It 
may, indeed, as one well observed, kindle your affections 
for a little, on straws and briars, soon to go out after a 
flash or two, leaving you in cold and darkness. But the 
pardon, — the grace, — ^the purity, — the perfect love to 
which you are invited, are " the everlasting Good," which 
warm the heart, — which enkindle the affections, — which 
inflame and happify the soul, and bear it thus away 
through life, to eternal life. make haste ! Christ is 
ready. His blood is ready, and the Spirit to apply it, — 
"to wash and seal the sons of God." Why linger, then? 
Have you any too much time? Has God allotted you 
more than is necessary ? Who dare say so ? Who so 
foolish as to think so ? Eternity will prove in terrible 



82 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

accents, that the Almighty gave us time enough to make 
ready for our full reward, and not a year, nor a day too 
much. Lord Jesus^ impress this upon all our hearts. 

Know you not the value of time ? Is it wise to estimate 
it lightly J till it is gone for ever ? Know you not the 
worth of a present Saviour ? — of offered mercy ? — of a 
glorious Heaven ? Is it the part of a wise man to refuse 
such an estimate, until they are gone past recall ? — to be 
left to cry out with one at last, '' Oh woe ! woe ! woe!— 
woe to him that must stand before the bar of God, without 
a part in the blood of Christ, and must answer there 
without an Advocate !" Are you prepared to risk a woe 
like this? Are you resolved to risk it ? 

hearken ! hearken ! hearken ! Know and believe 
how terrible a thing it is to be damned, before you know 
and feel by experience the terribleness of it ! Believe what 
I say, or else believe what one said to another like your- 
self many years ago. Hearken to him : " Conversion and 
condemnation are both awakening things ; and one of them 
will make joufeel ere long. I can foretell it as truly, as 
if I saw it with my eyes, that either grace or Hell will 
shortly bring these matters to the quick, and make you 
say, ' what have I done ! what a foolish course have I 
taken!'*' Ah, these are soul-piercing words! But if 
they affect you not, perhaps those intensely earnest words 
of God may, '' Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate.'* 
Jer. 44 : 4. Ay ! sin is that abominable thing which God 
hates, — outward sin, — inward sin, — and which both of you 
should hate. Ay, both ! And how it affects my heart 
to associate one who professes justification, and who is un- 
willing to be entirely sanctified, with the unwilling sinner 
in Zion ! But I have been compelled to do it, with a 
bleeding heart, and not for the first time neither. 

Hear me, both of you. Know ye not that the tide of sal- 
vation is now in your favour t — that sailors say, it is easy 



SIN, ITS TENDENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES. 83 

sailing with the ^vind and tide ? — that you may never have 
them more in your favour than now? — never, perhaps, 
equally favourable. believe my testimony ! Nay, be- 
lieve God himself. Hearken to what he says: ''Behold 
NOW is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salva- 
tion,'' then, '' the tide serves^'' the breezes of grace blow 
from Calvary. Now is the time for you to be saved, — 
saved to the uttermost. 

Know ye not, how terrible it will be at the last, should 
the Judge -of all, first address one, and then the other, 
and say, "Foolish man." Alas! alas for you then! 
what will avail, then, that capacity you have now for judg- 
ing wisely ? What will it avail then, if you now act against 
the truth you know, — the truth you approve ? Of what 
avail ? Alas, nothing ! only that with more superior sense 
than the common damned^ you can judge how justly you 
have been sentenced to eternal damnation. 

18. In conclusion, let me entreat you, turn away your 
ear from hearing anything against holiness. Neither hear, 
nor read anything against holiness. What leads to holi- 
ness is from Grod; and what leads from holiness is from 
the Devil ; — never sounder criterion than that ! May the 
Holy Spirit impress it upon all your minds. 

It is well to be careful and weigh well, all that is said 
in favour of holiness ; — for error may mingle even with 
that. But that which would render holiness hopeless to 
you, or would prejudice your mind against it, you may set 
it down as from the source of evil, assuredly. 

And let me impress upon you those sentiments uttered 
by one a long time ago, " Remember that sin dwells in 
Hell^ and holiness in Heaven ; — that every temptation is 
from the Devil, to make you like himself; and every holy 
motion is from Christy to make you like himself. Remem- 
ber, when you «m, you ai'e learning and imitating the 
Devil, and so far like him. And the end of all, that you 



84 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

may feel his pains. If hell-fire be not good, then sin is 
not good. Think not of sin, ' What do men say of it ?' 
but what do men in Hell say of it ? What do men at 
death say of it ? What do converted or awakened con- 
sciences say of it." Think of these things, my hear- 
ers ! ''I speak as to wise men^ judge ye what I say.'' 
Judge rightly^ and well^ and act in accordance with your 
judgment, so shall you have confidence and joy, when 
you shall stand before the Judge of all. 

I did intend to say much more here, with regard to 
holiness ; but time forbids it. The subject can be resumed 
at another time. may a blessing from above attend 
what has been said, for Christ's sake. Amen. 



CHAPTER XI. 

SANCTIFICATION — ERRONEOUS VIEWS CORRECTED. 

A SERMON. 

^^ I speak as unto wise men; judge ye what I say." 1 Cor. 10 : 15, 

1. Not a few, but many of you who hear me this even- 
ing, are intelligent, well-read and well-instructed Metho- 
dists. And, perhaps, like those Corinthian Christians to 
whom my text was addressed, you are far from under- 
rating your wisdom in divine things. 

2. It is w^ell. A favourable hearing is thereby war- 
ranted me, and a just decision as to the truthfulness of 
my remarks. But should any sentiment of mine, happen 
to cross some favourite theory of your own, please be not 
ofi*ended. Repel it not, without a close, and careful, and 



SANCTIFICATION. 85 

candid examination. And may the Head of the Church 
grant us his presence and his blessing. 

I propose to reply to a series of important questions in 
connexion with the doctrine of entire sanctification, 

I. " Is it consistent to profess to he in a justified state^ 
and yet he indifferent to holiness or sanctification ?" 

I think not. It is very inconsistent. It is not suitahle. 
It agrees not with the essential elements of justification ; 
which imply a change of nature^ as well as forgiveness ; 
and a change from the love of evil to the love of good^ — 
from a love of sin^ to the love of holiness. It is there- 
fore a contradiction. Was it not precisely on the same 
principle St. John penned that decision, " And every man 
that hath this hope in him-^ purifieth himself even as he 
is pure?'' 1 John, 3: 3. He designed it as the grand 
criterion of our state, — of the genuineness of our hope ; 
— that we use all the means within our reach to get purity^ 
and equally so to keep it ; — that this is the true, hahitual 
characteristic of every one who is horn of God ? — of every 
one who is not deceived in his conversion ? It is also a 
notable evidence of his sincerity ; as an excellent Calvin- 
istic divine remarked : " He is not sincere who desires 
not to hQ'perfect ; and he desires not sincerely who is not 
willing to be at the lahour and cost necessary to the 
obtaining of the thing desired." That is speaking right 
up to the mark of truth and consistency. 

But let us proceed to another question. 

II. " Is it proper^ or correct^ in those who profess to 
enjoy entire sanctification^ to run doivn^ or despise justifi- 
cation V 

It is very improper. A man might as well despise the 
foundation upon which his house is built ! For, without 
justification^ there can be no sanctification^ nor glorifica- 
tion^ neither. None of these, properly speaking, is great 
in an isolated state. Their greatness stands -in their con- 
8 



86 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

nexion. We are wrong when we consider them alone. 
The one leads to the other, — prepares for the other, with- 
out which that other, whether sanctification or glorification, 
cannot exist. If we keep this fact in view, we cannot 
despise justification. Those who do so, betray either 
spiritual pride, or culpable ignorance. If pride, they are 
themselves farther off from holiness than those they aflfect 
to despise ; and are therefore to be pitied and prayed for. 
But if from ignorance, certainly they should be better 
instructed. Such a sentiment should always meet with 
rebuke or correction. It is an error, and does much harm. 
It grieves the Holy Spirit ; sets back and discourages the 
weak, and creates much prejudice. Away with it from our 
teachings ! There is a more excellent way to advance 
Sanctification. 

The early Methodists were annoyed by it ; and the evil 
did not escape the notice oi Mr. Wesley. In '^ The Minutes 
of Conversations,'' which he held with his Preachers, I 
happened the other day upon the following questions and 
answers. " Do we ordinarily represent di justified state so 
great and happy as it is? Perhaps not. A believer 
walking in the light, is inexpressibly great and happy. 
Should we not have a care of depreciating justification, in 
order to exalt the state of full sanctification ? Undoubt- 
edly we should beware of this ; for one may insensibly 
slide into it. How shall we effectually avoid it ? When 
we are going to speak of entire sanctification, let us first 
describe the blessing of a justified state as strongly as 
possible." 

Allow me then, most affectionately, dear brethren, to 
commend these hints to your faithful memory, and also to 
all whom you receive as assistants in the prayer meetings. 

Despise justification ! The passenger might as well 
despise the ship in which he sails ! Despise those who 
enjoj justification ! Better go into the school and fall to 



SANCTIFICATION. 87 

despising the child that has just mastered his dlphahet^ or 
the boy who has just become victorious over the difficulties 
of grammar. As well go and despise a neighbour who 
has dug the foundation of his intended house to the rock^ 
and who has commenced, though slowly and cautiously, to 
build thereupon ! 

let us away with such nonsense. And rather encou- 
rage and assist all such to sing, 

** Me in my blood thy love passed by, 
And stopp'd my ruin to retrieve ; 
Wept o'er my soul thy pitying eye, 

Thy bowels yeam'd, and sounded, ' Live !' 
Dying I heard the welcome sound, 
Kud pardon in thy mercy found. 

Honour, and might, and thanks, and praise, 

I render to my pardoning God ; 
Extol the riches of thy grace, 

And spread thy saving name abroad ; 
That only Name to sinners given, 
W^hich lifts poor dying worms to heaven." 

But this need not prevent you from exhorting them to 
go on unto perfection. You may exhort them in the 
plainest and most searching manner possible, only recog- 
nise their justification ; — urge, if need be, the warmest 
gratitude and loudest thanksgiving to God, for this foun- 
dation mercy ; then say what else you will. But I conjure 
you all to cease that other reprehensible method of advanc- 
ing sanctification. You will sooner, by that means, ad- 
vance spiritual p>ride in yourselves, than holiness in those 
whose state you despise. These remarks will apply equally 
to that other notion, revived by some of late, ^-^that he is 
not a believer who has any sin remaining in him.'' I say 
revived^ — for it was this that divided the Methodists from 
the Germans in the days of Mr. Wesley, more than a cen- 
tury ago. And, depend upon it, it cannot creep in among 
the Methodists again, without being marked and resisted. 



88 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

He cannot be a believer^ I grant, in whom sin reigns ; 
but sin may exist in the heart, without being allowed to 
reign. And he who is thus a conqueror^ is a believer ; — 
in a lower sense, indeed, than is his privilege ; yet a be- 
liever he is, or he could not be a conqueror. Nevertheless 
he should not stop there. He should be exhorted to go on 
unto perfection. Heb. 6 : 1. 

III. ''Is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION a doctrine of Method" 
ismr' 

It is ; but as it regards God alone, not Christians. 
With respect to them, it is neither a doctrine of Method- 
ism nor Scripture. Absolute perfection belongs neither to 
men nor angels, but to God only. Am I understood ? to 
God only does it belong. 

Observe what I am going to say : we preach no perfec- 
tion for believers, which admits not of higher degrees ; — 
none from which it is impossible to fall. You see clearly 
that to God alone such perfection belongs, and not to 
man. 

Nor does it belong to angels : for they are advancing 
continually to higher degrees of holiness, love and knowledge. 
So are " the spirits of just men made perfect.'' Angels, — 
those who sinned, and kept not their first estate, were 
destined to the same eternal progression unto higher 
heights of perfection, had they been faithful. The same 
may be said of Adam. But they fell, and Adam fell. If 
so, we may fall. What then becomes of absolute perfec- 
tion ? It is a nonentity ; — a figment of the imagination ; — 
belongs to the list of things imaginary. There let it 
abide. But away with it from our teaching. Amen. " I 
speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I say.'' 

IV. Is it correct to teach that JUSTIFICATION may exist 

without SANCTIFICATION ? 

To this I reply, Yes ; that is if entire sanctification be 
meant. But if initial, or incipient sanctification, — that is 



SANCTIFICATION. 89 

eanctification in its comme7icement, — in its first stages^ — 
then I would say, N^o, emphatically. We have no such 
teaching among us ; unless some have intruded themselves 
into the prayer meetings, as teachers^ who should not. 

They might as well teach that a child has not within it 
the elements of the future man ; or that the dawn has 
none of the light of day mingled therein ; for we all know 
that the future man is in every part of the child, and that 
there is no portion of the open atmosphere without the 
mingling of the light of day throughout it ! But it is just 
so with justijfication and sanctification. They might as 
well teach that morning^ with its usual sunshine, is dis- 
connected with noonday ; or that it has none of the ele- 
ments of glorious noon. What would you think of him 
who would so teach ? 

But justification is as the day-dawn ; — sanctification 
mingles with every part of it. Properly speaking, justifi- 
cation is like a beautiful summer morning to the soul, with 
the cloudless sky ; — the sun mounting the eastern heavens 
and filling the region around with sunshine ; — the voice of 
birds, the fragrance of flowers, and light and sunshine are 
all sweetly difi*used ; — conscience^ singing like a bird of 
Paradise, and the fragrance of Heaven throughout the 
heart ; for the Sun of Righteousness^ according to pro- 
mise, hath arisen upon the soul toith healing in his wings ! 
and pray, what portion of this morning of justification is 
it that has none of the essential elements of the noon of 
perfect love ? Why then suppose that initial sanctification 
does not co-exist with justification? 

To alter the figure again : As the healthy blossom on 
the apple tree has always beneath it the germ of the future 
perfect apple : so the blossom of a sound justification has 
always attached to it th^ gei^m of sanctification. They 
are, in fact, inseparable. 

But then I would not assert that the germ is equal to 
8* 



90 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

the perfectly formed and ripe apple ; or that day-dawn^ 
or morning^ has the heat or brilliancy of 'perfect noon. 
More upon this head by-and-by. 

V. ^' Zs it correct to teach that we are entirely sanc- 
tified, THE MOMENT WE ARE JUSTIFIED?'' 

To this I answer, No. It is just in the opposite extreme 
from that proposed in the last question. 

Mr, Wesley calls it a mischievous opinion. He admits, 
of course, that <^ We are then delivered from the dominion 
of outward sin ; and, at the same time, the power of 
inward sin is so broken, that we need not follow, or be led 
by it : but it is by no means true, that inward sin is then 
totally destroyed; that the root of pride, self-will, anger, 
love of the world, is then taken out of the heart ; or that 
the carnal mind, and the heart bent to backsliding, are 
entirely extirpated.'' And now mark well what follows: 
*' To suppose the contrary^ is not, as some may think, an 
innocent, harmless mistake. No : it does immense harm : 
it entirely blocks up the way to any farther change: for it 
is manifest, ' They that are whole do not need a physician, ^ 
but they that are sick.' If, therefore, we think we are 
quite made whole already, there is no room to seek any 
farther healing. On this supposition it is absurd to expect 
a farther deliverance from sin, whether gradual or instan- 
taneous. 

" On the contrary, a deep conviction that we are not 
yet whole, that our hearts are not fully purified," adds 
Mr. Wesley, — " that there is yet in us a < carnal mind,' 
which is still in its nature ' enmity against God ;' that a 
whole body of sin remains in our heart, weakened indeed, 
but not destroyed ; shows, beyond all possibility of doubt, 
the absolute necessity of a farther change. We allow, 
that at the very moment of justification, we are born 
again : in that instant we experience that inward change^ 
from 'darkness into marvellous light;' from the image of 



SANCTIFICATION. 91 

the brute and the devil, into the image of God ; from the 
earthly, sensual, devilish mind, to the mind which was in 
Christ Jesus. But are we then entirely changed ? Are 
we wholly transformed into the image of him that created 
us ? Far from it : we still retain a depth of sin : and it 
is the consciousness of this, which constrains us to groan 
for di,full deliverance to him that is mighty to save. Hence 
it is, that those believers who are not convinced of the 
deep corruption of their hearts, or but slightly, and as it 
were notionally convinced^ have little concern about entire 
sanctijication. They may possibly hold the opinion, that 
such a thing is to be, either at death, or some time, they 
know not when, before it. But they have no great unea- 
siness for the w^ant of it, and no great hunger or thirst 
after it. They cannot, until they know themselves better, 
— until God unveils the inbred monster s face, and shows 
them the real state of their souls. Then only, when they 
feel the burden, will they groan for deliverance from it. 
Then, and not till then, will they cry out in the agony of 
their soul, 

* Break off the yoke of inbred sin, 
' And fulli/ set my spirit free ! 

I cannot rest, till pure within^ 
Till I am wholly lost in thee.* " 

These sentiments of Mr. Wesley set the matter in a 
very clear and convincing light. I have used his language 
in preference to my own, for it is better than anything I 
could say. But in giving you his views, I have but ex- 
pressed ''the sum and substance'' of our teaching upon 
this department of experimental religion. How far it is in 
harmony with the past or present experience of my 
hearers, I must leave you to judge. '' I speak as to wise 
men, judge ye what I say,'' 

In view of what has been said upon this and the previ- 



92 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

ous question, allow me to add : imvard sanctification begins 
when we are justified ; — in the same moment. Keep this 
in mind. It is a fruit of justification and always included 
in it ; — just as the geryn of the perfect apple is included in 
or beneath the blossom. But we would not call it a perfect 
apple. It is perfect, doubtless, so far as it is formed, but 
not so perfect as it will be. It is the apple in its initial 
state, — in its commencement ; but like this sanctification ^ 
the apple must have time to grow^ and then to ripen. Do 
you understand me ? 

Justification^ without this initial sanctification^ would be 
as worthless^ as an apple hlossom^ without "the young 
apple" beneath it. Sanctification^ then, always commences 
with real justification; — is included in it, and inseparable 
from it ; — as the light of day from the dawn ; — as the 
germ of ih.^ future apple from the healthy blossom ; or, as 
green from a healthy leaf — colour from the rose^ — warmth 
from the sunbeam^ — or light from the sunbeam^ — or heat 
from fire. Remember this. For this is what we mean by 
initial^ or incipient sanctification. 

But, observe : would it not be a folly to insist that day- 
dawn has in it as much light and heat^ as the brilliancy of 
noon-day ? or that the germ under the blossom^ is as per- 
fectly an apple as it will be months hence, if nothing 
happens to it ? But, with equal propriety do some assert, 
that we are entirely sanctified in the moment of justifica- 
sion ! Now we found these remarks, we confess, more on 
the nature of things^ and upon common sensCj and the ex- 
perience of believers^ than upon Scripture declarations. But 
should advantage be taken of that, we have a ready ofi'set 
to it : there is no Scripture directly against it : Whereas 
we could quote several texts which seem to favour it con- 
siderably, and considerably convincing. That in 1 Cor. 
3:1,3: " And 7, brethren^ could not speak unto you as 
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes 



SANCTIFICATION. 0S 

IN Christ. — For ye are carnal: for whereas there is 
among you envying^ and strife^ and divisions, are ye not 
carnal, and walk as menV Such were those "babes in 
Christ,'' but who would insist that they were entirely 
sanctified f 

Hearken to St. Peter. 1 Peter, 2: 1, 2: "Wherefore 
laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, and 
envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the 
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 
But could they f^'lay aside' what they did not possess? 
And yet they were 'f- new-born babes." But who would 
say they enjoyed entire sanctification f That they had 
grace, is a just inference ; that they were not cleansed 
from all sin, is an inference equally just. And if so 
then, may it not be so now ? question or inference, as you 
like, it is easily deducible ! 

One text more : 1 Thess. 5 : 23 : '('And the very God of 
peace sanctify you wholly : and I pray God your whole 
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth 
you, who also will do it." He had just exhorted these 
persons to " Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and 
in everything give thanks.'* He had just called them 
" the children of light." And yet, he prayed to God to 
sanctify them "WHOLLY." The plain inference then is, 
they were but sanctified in part ; and so we make bold to 
say, it may be thus with new converts in the nineteenth 
century. For, observe : the church to whom he wrote this 
epistle, was not more than a few months old. 

This seems as near as we can come to it, with the Scrip- 
tures for our guide. But if we appeal to the general ex- 
perience of new converts, and more advanced Christians, 
there is a very striking corroboration. Besides, ask some 
of those who oppose these sentiments, whether they them- 
selves have entire holiness, associated with their justifica- 



94 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

tion, and they will honestly tell you, ^'No." Nor are 
they prepared to combat the inference, that it might have 
been just so with them in the moment of their justification. 
And thus, their whole argument for a universal applica- 
tion of their theory, falls to the ground. 

I say, a universal application of the theory ; for ob- 
serve : we do not affirm that none are entirely sanctified 
in the moment of justification ; indeed we have known 
such, we think ; and the cases may be more numerous than 
we are aware. At any rate, it is not wise to '' limit the 
Holy One of Israel.'' We only speak of what we do 
know, — the intimations of Scripture, and the general ex- 
perience of justified believers. 

There are several other questions which I propose to 
answer at a convenient time. In the mean time, let us all 
be aware of our wants, and begin now to cry mightily 
unto God to have them supplied. Let us prostrate our- 
selves before Him who is mighty to save. Let us say with 
Jacob, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me ;'' or 
with Charles Wesley, 

** Heavenly Adam, life divine, 
Change my nature into thine ; 
Move and spread throughout my soul, 
Actuate and fill the whole. 

that I now, from sin released. 
Thy word might to the utmost prove. 

Enter into thy promised rest ; 
The Canaan of thy perfect love. 

* Come, Lord, be manifested here, 

And all the devil's works destroy ; 
Now, without sin in me appear, 

And fiU with everlasting joy : 
Thy beatific face display ; 
Thy presence in the perfect day." Amen. 



SANCTIFICATIOX* 95 

CHAPTER XII. 

SANCTIFICATION — WRONG VIEWS CORRECTED. 

A SERMON. 
" I speak as to wise men; judge ye what 1 say. 1 Cor. 10: 15. 

I CLOSED my last discourse, with a reply to the question, 
"Is it correct to teach that we are entirely sanctified the 
moment we are justified?'' A few questions remained 
unanswered. Let us proceed with them. 

I. '^ Is it proper to insist upon the gradual sanctifica- 
tion of believers^ to the exclusion of the instantaneous?" 

1. To this I answer, it is not proper. And for this good 
reason, the gradual implies the instantaneous some time 
or other, whether in the moment of death, or years before. 
There must, in the nature of the case, be a last moment 
when sin exists in the soul, and a first moment when it 
does not exist ; — that is, if we are cleansed from all sin in 
this lifcy fix the period when or where you please, — only 
not in eternity. For a minute after death would be too 
late, on New Testament and Protestant principles. 

2. As to Time^ what matters it ! It is the same on our 
death-bed^ as when fleeting past us in health. Time grows 
not old, nor sickens when we sicken. Time grows not 
old,— 

**Nor knows the weight of sleep or weariness; 
On, still on it rushes, and for ever." 

3. We may say of Time what that Erench writer Cha- 
teaubriand says of the sun^ that is, if I may be allowed to 
farody his sentiments : We behold Time with the dying, 
sinking under the arches of the west, while another be- 
holder, in boyhood's marvelling hour, observes him spring- 
ing from the regions of the morning. By what inconceiv- 



96 THE TRIUMPH OF TKUTH. 

able magic is it, that this ancient luminary, or companion 
of the human race^ that reposes burning and fatigued in 
the dust of the evening of life's day, is the same youthful 
planet that awakens, humid with the dew, underneath the 
whitening curtains of the dawn ; — at every moment he is 
rising in the zenith, or setting in some portion of the 
world — Ay ! such is Time in its relations to human life, 
whether in its evening or its morning, — in its ending or 
beginning ; — ever fresh, and ever young. Time in sick- 
ness, and Time in health, is unchangeable ; — in death as in 
life ; — in our last houVj as in our hour of prime^ — ^the 
same. 

8. Suppose not that I lay much stress upon this little 
parody ; — that is, in thus turning the strikingly beautiful 
sentiment of the French traveller, in a direction he thought 
not of. It has turned your attention fully to the subject 
on* hand, and that was what I wanted, in order to enforce, 
with the more effect, two or three simple ideas. 1st. That 
Time^ in itself, has no power either to retard or advance^ 
to hinder or to help our purification. It is the hlood of 
Jesus Christ alone that cleanseth us from all sin. Although 
it may be admitted, that when Death severs us from Time, 
if we are found unpurified then, we must remain unpurified 
for ever. 2d. That if the blood of Christ is sufficient to 
cleanse us a moment or two before death, why not an hour 
or two, a week or two, or a year or two? Because, as 
Protestants, we are bound to ascribe our salvation and 
purification exclusively to the hlood of Christy without any 
regard to the intervention of either Time or Death, 

9. And are not such sentiments fully borne out by St. 
John, where he declares, '' The hlood of Jesus Christ his 
son^ cleanseth us from all sin!'' — not, shall cleanse^ some 
time or other, but ''cleanseth^'' — now, in the present 
tense, without any regard to the conjunction of Time and 
Death. 



SANCTIFICATION. 97 

The Sd idea, I had almost forgotten : that if our puri- 
fication in the last hour of life be instantaneous^ why not 
in this hour ? For, mark this : instantaneous it must be, 
whatever time it may occur ! — a last moment and a firsts 
is an idea of common sense, fix the time where we may, 
on this side Eternity ; — a last moment when we are not 
cleansed, and a first moment when we are. To think the 
contrary, is to think nonsense ! 

10. However, considerable latitude of opinion should 
be allowed upon this point. And for this reason : we do 
not find any text bearing precisely upon it ; — at least I do 
not remember any ; neither do I recollect any text clearly 
against it. Let these two facts stand side by side as wor- 
thy companions ! 

The silence of Scripture, just here, seems to indicate 
this great fact, that what reason can suggest in this matter, 
the Holy Spirit leaves it to suggest. Reason tells us that 
di beginning im^\i^^ an end; — a commencement bespeaks 

a completion ; ^gradual work includes the instanta- 

neous. And farther : Reason insists* if we are cleansed 
from all sin before death, it must be in an instant, for an 
instant comes when we are dead ; — therefore salvation 
from sin on the death-bed, must be instantaneous. There- 
fore, having this data to guide us. Reason finds no difficulty 
in carrying an inference as far back in life, as our state 
in justification would warrant us to expect full salvation ; 
— that is, that we may be as truly cleansed by the blood 
of Christ now, as in the fevered moment of our dissolution. 
Therefore it must be instantaneous in this case also. Nor 
would it be an easy matter to overturn such an inference, 
or conclusion, except by a " Thus saith the Lord,'' and 
that, for this case, would be as hard a matter, quite. 

11. If you allow ^ first momerit, anywhere in time, when 
the soul is cleansed from all sin, Reason will be sui'e to 
fix upon the moment previous when it was not cleansed; 



98 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

Between these two important moments it plants the instan- 
tajieous salvation. Nor can you move enlightened Reason 
from its position by all you may choose to say about " the 
article of death," and such things. It will have nothing 
to do with Death in this business, but with Christ ; — not 
to Deaths but to the blood of Christ will it award the cre- 
dit. It fixes itself upon Time^ as distinguished from Eter- 
nity, and the efficacious blood of the Lamb, as revealed in 
the New Testament, and draws its conclusions accordingly. 

12. If St. Paul exhorted, "Likewise reckon ye also 
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin^ but alive unto God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord^'' it sounds to Reason 
with the force of a declaration^ that in life and in health 
we may begin to reckon ourselves dead unto sin ; — that 
it would be unreasonable to think otherwise, so long as it 
is written, and by the same apostle, that ^^ Whatsoever 
things were written aforetime were written for our learn- 
ing, that we through patience and comfort of the Scrip- 
tures might have hope." Thus, also, those who insinuate 
that we discard Reason from such subjects, libel us. We 
do not discard it, but rather regard it with much deference^ 
in all matters where the Scriptures do seem to commit us 
to the guidance of that noble faculty. These are cer- 
tainly /ac^s, in the operations and decisions of enlightened 
Protestant Reason^ when pressed to take sides in these 
matters. It admits of a gradual approach to, and an 
instantaneous reception of full salvation ; — that is, if you 
will allow it any data to reason from anywhere on this 
side Eternity ! 

13. Nevertheless, such a Reason will meet you with a 
6mile, stack its reasonings, as soldiers "stack arms'' for 
refreshment, and will bow itself down in reverential awe, 
and silence, if you will but deign to address it in some 
such language as I met the other day, in the writings of 
Mr. Wesley: " God is sovereign, in sanctifying as well as 



SAXCTIFICATION. 99 

justifying. He will act when as well as how he pleases ; 
and none can say unto him, What doest thou ? God usu- 
ally gives a considerable time for men to receive light to 
grow in grace, to do and suffer his will, before they are 
either justified or sanctified ; but he does not invariably 
adhere to this; sometimes he <'cuts short his work:' he 
does the work of many years in a few weeks ; perhaps in 
a week, a day, an hour. He justifies or sanctifies both 
those who have done or sufi^ered nothing, and who have 
not had time for a gradual growth either in light or grace. 
And ' may he not do what he will with his own ? Is thine 
eye evil, because he is good V 

" It need not, therefore, be affirmed over and over, 
proved by forty texts of Scripture, either that most men 
are perfected in love at last, that there is a gradual work 
of God in the soul, or that, generally speaking, it is a 
long time, even many years, before sin is destroyed. All 
this we know : but we know likewise, that God may, with 
man's good leave, ^ cut short his work,' in whatever degree 
he pleases, and do the usual work of many years in a 
moment. He does so in many instances ; and yet there 
is a gradual work, both before and after that moment : so 
that one may affirm the work is gradual, another, it is 
instantaneous, without any manner of contradiction.'* 
This is the true light in which to view the subject. Rea- 
son is not apt to be unreasonable; and it never shows 
more of reason in choosing its ground, than when it refuses 
to '' limit the Holy One of Israel,'' and freely assents that 
<'^ All things are possible to him that believeth," 

II. ''Is it truthful to say that all JUSTIFIED PERSONS 
are unfaithful, — straitened, — weakened ?" 

I answer, 1. Not entirely so, perhaps. A soul newly 
born of God, has not had time to be or to feel, may be, 
one or the other ; but is exceedingly happy, and approved 
of God. But he is a justified person. 



100 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

2. Nor would it be wise to deny, that some persons, 
who, though not entirely sanctified^ do feel much of what 
such a new convert feels. They live so near the borders 
of this Canaan^ as to enjoy something of its salubrious 
atmosphere^ and refreshing breezes, 

3. When the sentiment is taught by those, whose folly 
it is to underrate and run down justification^ it may be 

: truthfully littered^ though with an improper intent. It is 
well to discriminate here, and rebuke the intention^ while 
we admit the fact^ and urge it as an argument why such 
should press after entire sanctification, 

4. Observe farther : a justified person^ may feel the 
MOTIONS oi pride ^ and evil desire^ — o^ envy — jealousy^ and 
evil surmising ; — of resentment^ or of inordinate affection ; 
— of self'tvill^ or self-love^ or love of the worlds which is 
idolatry and covetousness^ — double idolatry^ — making an 
idol of self and an idol of the world. But, observe : 
these may remain^ though they do not reign in his life 
nor heart. But they straiten and weaken him in many 
ways, notwithstanding. Nor can we deny, that in most, 
alas ! such corruptions too frequently obtain the victory. 

But dWo^mg faithfulness^ in the sense of the subduing 
these evil inclinations, so that they do not reign : are they 
not unfaithful to the call of God? ^^Beye holy ^ for I 
the Lord your Grod am holy^'' and reiterated by St. Peter, 
^' But as he ivhich hath called is holy^ so be ye holy in all 
manner of conversation ; because it is written^ Be ye holy ; 
for I am holy.'' In this sense, we think all such dilatory 
or tardy persons, are unfaithful, 

5. Observe again : it is the very nature of indwelling 
sin to embarrass and weaken the soul. Agur says, '' The 
horse-leech hath ttvo daughters, crying, Give, give,'' Prov. 
30: 15. Such is indwelling sin. Like the horse-leech 
and its brood, it is a blood-sucker, and a strength-weakener. 
It sucks the life-blood out of our religion, — joy, for in- 



SANCTIFICATION. 101 

stance, '^ The joy of the Lord is your strength.'' Neh. 
8 : 10. Joy^ the second grace, or frnit of the Spirit j it 
sucks dead ; then love^ peace^ faith^ meekness, tell us 
not of the fabled Vampire^ that sucked the blood of the 
living when asleep Here is Sifaet, — a Vampire that sucks 
the life-blood out of our religion, asleep or awake ; — leav- 
ing the soul strengthless as the body when the blood is 
gone. May the Lord cast out and destroy this Vampire 
from every heart, and give us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ ! 

6. Observe yet farther : He who is thus weakened knows 
it, — feels it, — deplores it, and with David of old, com- 
plains, ''I am this day weak, though anointed king.'' 
Others perceive it, perhaps, and are ready to inquire with 
Jonadab, <« Why art thou, being the King's son, lean 
from, day to day T' Or, he himself may say of his inbred 
plague, as Jeptha did to his daughter, " Alas ! — thou hast 
brought me very low." Ah! we have many among us, who 
thus mournfully complain, whose voices are never heard 
on our spiritual streets. 

Jesus once said, ^^ I have a baptism to be baptized with, 
and how am I straitened till it be accomplished !" But 
in a far different sense may one of these say the same, — 
or with the poet, 

**An inward baptism of pure fire, 

Wherewith to be baptiz'd I have ; 
'Tis all my longing soul's desire; 
This, only this my soul can save. 

Straiten'd I am till this be done ; 

Kindle in me the living flame ; 
Father, in me reveal thy Son, 

Baptize me into Jesus' name." 

III. " -7^ it correct teaching, to urge the seeker of full 
9* 



102 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

salvation^ thus : ' Believe that you have it, and you 

HAVE IT?' '' 

1. Correct ! no ! It is most incorrect. It is folly. I beg 
of you discountenance^ — nay, contradict and rebuke all 
such teaching in the prayer meetings: The word of God 
teaches nothing of the sort. Nay, it is contrary to the 
Scriptures^ and common sense. 

2. That the wants of the soul, in this respect, are not 
to be relieved by merely desiring and praying^ is evident 
from Matt. 21 : 22, and Mark 11 : 24. In the first, Jesus 
shows us that we must add ''believing'' to praying; and 
in the second, that to desire and pray for the blessing is 
not sufficient ; we must ''Believe that we receive ;" — " believe 
that ye receive^'' is the condition. 

3. Now mark what I am going to say : There is a great 
distinction between, " Believe that ye receive ^ and yc shall 
have;'' and, "Believe that you have it, and you have it." 
The one is in harmony with sense and reason ; the other 
is at war with both. 

4. An eminent divine, I am aware, seemed at one time 
to see but little difference between them ; but it was only 
for a season, — in a time of perplexing and irritating con- 
troversy upon the subject, — when he desired to reconcile 
the contending parties, by bringing them as near together 
as possible ; — but in vain. He saw in clearer light after- 
wards ; and now with greater ardour, pressed, " Believe 
that ye receive," upon the hearts of believers. 

hearken! Shun this deceptive rock upon which so 
many have split. Abide by the plain words of our Saviour: 
"Believe that ye receive, and ye shall have." There it is. 
Believe that you do receive, now, what you desire, and what 
you pray for ; — I mean with regard to purify of heart, and 
pure love. 

6. When you have a proper conviction of your need of 
the blessing ; — when your consecration is entire ; — when 



SAXCTIFICATION. 103 

every sm inward and outward, is hated and renounced ; — 
when you have desired and prayed for it ; — Avhen you have 
offered the blood of Jesus, as the full price, demanded in 
the Gospel ; — and when the language of your heart is that 
which Jacob used, when he wrestled with the angel, " I 
will not let thee go^ except thou bless me;'' — then, as Mr. 
Wesley says, there is only one point remaining. Believe 
and be saved. Believe his promises^ that he will save you 
from sin, snidJiU you with holiness ; — believe that he is 
able and willing to save you now, and to the uttermost, — 
now, excluding every other period of time, but NOW ; — 
whether a year hence, or to-morrow, or at the close of the 
discourse, — the serpent lurks in all such futures, and un- 
belief lies entrenched in the unappropriated present ; — 
away with them, and believe now, that you do receive, and 
salvation shall be yours, in that instant. 

7. The teachings of the old Methodists, in the days of 
Mr. Wesley, was, ^' Believe that he doeth it.'' But that is 
just the same as to say, '' Believe that ye receive." let 
us abide by the ancient landmarks ! They are better than 
the neiv ; — as much more as '^ Thus saith the Lord," is 
better than " Thus saith a man.'' 

8. Allow me to urge this point a little farther. When 
St. Paul was preaching at Lystra, he saw among his hearers 
a cripple, — a man who had been a cripple from his birth, 
%nd who had never walked ; and perceiving that the man 
had faith to be healed, St. Paul, looking at him, said with 
a loud voice, '' Stand upright on thy feet," and the man 
'(•walked and leaped !" He not only ivalked, but leaped, 
to show that he was perfectly healed ! Hear me, thou 
hitherto spiritual cripple ! This is the day of salvation ! 
Behold, this is the accepted time ! Believe and be saved. 
Thou hast faith to be healed. It is springing up in thy 
heart ! Thou believest that thou mayest be healed now. 
And why not, if this is the accepted time ? And who dare 



104 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

deny it ? Thou wilt not, — thou canst not. Now is the 
time ! Hallelujah ! <' Believe that ye do receive P' Ay ! 
and you do receive, and were the angels of God allowed 
to be visible, they would fill this house of God with acela- 
mations ! 

9. Let another hearken. Jesus Christ is just as ready 
and willing to save you now. Why not? Who would 
deny that? Well, then, ''Believe and he sai^^cZ,'' also ! 
Believe now^ — where you are, and as you are ; — wait not 
to be either better or worse, softer or harder ; — but now, 
resolutely " believe that he doeth it,"— that he doeth it now. 
Falter not, because of a hard heart, or poverty of grace or 
feeling, or from weakness of faith. I say. Believe now, and 
God will work as he can, smd as he will, but save you he 
will. I believe it ! Hallelujah ! 

10. To another. Let another hearken. You have be- 
lieved ; but you are not satisfied. What is to be done ? 
Rest as you are? Nay, God forbid! ''Negative salva- 
tion' is next to no salvation! The Lord save us from a 
mere negative sanctification ; — that that is ufiaccompanied 
by a conscious deliverance from all sin ;—" I believe, be- 
cause I will believe.'' Nay! but if you believe»as you 
ought, you shall be saved as you should, and as you would, 
with a full salvation. 

11. However, be not discouraged. Stop not where you 
are. Try again ! Wait neither for more grace, or more 
feeling. Make your way to Jesus, as fast as you can, by 
Believing. That is it ! — by believing. You touch him 
when you believe. Your arm is long enough to reach 
him, — at least to touch the hem of his garment, — his pro- 
mise, — "And all things whatsoever ye desire when ye 
pray, believe that ye receive, and ye shall have." There 
it is ! Can you not touch it ? reach out that withered 
hand ! You do ! and healing saving virtue cometh forth 
from your glorious Saviour ! 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. 105 

12. Salvation ! He blesses you already ! Praise him, 
ye saints and angels ! Waver not, only keep on desiring^ 
praying^ and believing. Repeat the act of believing, till 
you feel Jesus reigns within your heart, the Lord of every 
motion ! 

let me shout in the ear of your faithy that caution, 
or direction of the seraphic Fletcher^ and may its echoes 
accompany thee and it to the Gates of Glory ! Hearken ! 
Beware of looking for any grace previous to believing ; 
and let this be uppermost in your mind ; — believe^ till you 
are drawn above yourself and earthy — till your flaming 
soul mounts and loses itself in the Sun of Righteousness ! 
Amen, and Amen. Jesus, ride on ! Ride on, Jesus, 
in the chariot of thy truth, and save the people unto the 
uttermost. Amen ! 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION* 

A SERMON. 
*• 1 speak as to wise men ; judge ye what Isay" 1 Cor. 10 : 15. 

1. Be not weary, my brethren, of this modest or unpre- 
tending motto. It wins attention ; that is one benefit. It 
gains upon your affections and self-esteem, without flat- 
tery ; — credits you with a capability of judging wisely ; — 
assumes that you are wise men, or that you ought to be, 
considering your advantages and opportunities for acquir- 
ing spiritual knowledge. 

2. Allow me, therefore, to use it as a motto still ; hold- 
ing in reserve other texts, if need be, to prove or illustrate 
the sentiments of which you are to be the judges. It is 
not necessary to refresh your memories with the questions 



106 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

already discussed or answered. You have already formed 
an opinion concerning each of them ; and I trust it is the 
right one. To a few other questions your attention is now 
solicited. Those who are more particularly interested will 
hearken especially, and weigh carefully and wisely my 
replies. Join with me in praying that we all may have the 
assistance of the Holy Spirit^ for the sake of Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen, 

I. Is it in harmony with the Holy Scriptures^ and our 
teachings^ to say that there is no witness of the spirit in 
sanctification V 

1. To this I reply, No ; nor is it in harmony with the 
general experience of those who enjoy this blessing. 

2. Those who oppose such a witness^ object to it on the 
ground that it is used in this sense in Scripture^ only with 
regard to our being the children of Grod, Rom. 8 : 16 ; 
and that the fruits of entire sanctification are a sufficient 
witness. 

3. Now, I would not be a stickler for a mere ivord ; but 
I do not like this limiting of the Holy Spirit ; — that he 
does this muchj and no more^ — and that it is not necessary 
he should do more. It is hardly proper to set man thus 
so much above the need of divine assistance. It is safer 
to say with St. Paul, '' I know nothing hy myself 1 Cor. 
4 : 4. The wisdom and modesty of such arbitrary deci- 
sions may well be questioned. However, let such allow 
that the Spirit assists the purified believer to ascertain 
that he is so, and that he confirms him in the possession 
of it ; — comforts and supports and enlightens and delivers 
such an one in times of trial and temptation : then let the 
word <'(' witness*' go; we have all that we contend for ! 

4. It is well, however, to remind such, that the Holy 
Spirit sustains various ojfices in the salvation of believers. 
The Scriptures represent him as our Comforter ; — as our 
Guide into all truth ; — as the helper of our infirmities ;— 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. 107 

as he who searcheth the heart; — as making intercession 
within us, with groaning s which cannot be uttered, — God 
himself reading therein the mind of the Spirit. John 14 : 
16, and 16 : 13, and Romans 8 : 26, 27. And add 1 Cor. 
2 : 12, which is, if possible, stronger in favour of it than 
any of the others. Hearken : '' Now we have received, 
not the spirit of the world, hut the Spirit ivhich is of God ; 

THAT WE MIGHT KNOW THE THINGS WHICH ARE FREELY 

GIVEN TO US OF GoD." This is clearly to the point ; 
unless such teachers can make it plain that the blessings 
of purity and perfect love, are not among the things which 
are freely given to us of God ! Is it wise, then, in the 
face of such Scriptures as these, to exclude the testimony, 
or evidence, or witness of the Spirit from entire sanctifica- 
tion? 

5. How very insignificant do such expressions as the 
following appear, before such Scriptures ! '' Sanctification 
is a real change, not a relative change, like justification, 
therefore what need is there for the witness of the Spirit 
therein." — ^' Inward holiness shines ly its own light, and 
where this is sufficient, what need is there for the light of 
the Spirit ?" Ay ! '' where this is sufficient !" But some- 
times it is quite insufficient; — "In the hour of tempta- 
tion," as Mr. Wesley remarks, when "Satan clouds the 
work of God, and injects various doubts and reasonings, 
especially in those who have very weak or very strong 
understandings. At such times there is absolute need of 
that witness, without which the work of sanctification not 
only could not be discerned, but could no longer subsist. 
Were it not for this, the soul could not then abide in the 
love of God ; much less could it rejoice evermore, and in 
everything give thanks. In these circumstances, there- 
fore, a direct testimony that we are sanctified is necessary 
in the highest degree." Do you wonder, then, that I 
objected to the teaching suggested in the question, as anti- 



108 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

scriptural^ and opposed to Methodist teaching on this 
subject ? 

6. How much better^ and safer^ and more honourable to 
the Holy Spirit^ to say at once with Mr. Wesley^ " We knoiv 
[we are sanctified] by the witness and fruit oi the Spirit. 
As when we were justified, the Spirit bore witness with 
our spirit, that our sins were forgiven ; so when we were 
sanctified, he bore the witness that they were taken away ;" 
— " and in general, the latter testimony of the Spirit 
is both as clear and steady as the former." And should 
we find one [which we never yet have] who would say, 
'' But I have no witness that I am saved from sin. And 
yet I have no doubt of it," we would reply to him, as 
Mr. Wesley did, «^Very well: as long as you have no 
doubt, it is enough ; when you have, you will need that 
witness." 

Let us then, my brethren, discountenance such teaching 
as we have been combating. Let us honour the Spirit of 
God. We cannot do this too much ; nor can we ascribe 
unto him more credit and praise than are his due, that we 
stand where we do in this great salvation. 

The next question : 

11. " Is it proper to teach, that all who are purified^ are 

FILLED WITH JOY AND LOVE AT THE SAME MOMENT V 

1. I think not. We have not, indeed, any text bearing 
expressly upon the subject, that I can remember at this 
moment. But the sentiment is contrary to the general 
experience of those who have come into the possession of 
the blessing ; — an empty but a pure hearty was their testi- 
mony ; or a degree of love in a pure heart, — with the deepest 
humility^ and self-abasement; — and, for a considerable 
time, in some, held as with a trembling hand ; — in others, 
with more confidence, and for a shorter period, when they 
were filled with love, and enabled to rejoice with joy un- 
speakable j and full of glory. 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. 109 

2. It is as the Lord pleaseth, in this matter. Although 
much may depend upon the strength or weakness of faithy 
or more or less earnestness in the subjects themselves. 
The same thing struck Mr. Wesley, when examining the 
subjects of that great revival of holiness in London, of 
whom he remarked, '' One would expect that a believer 
should be first filled with love, and thereby emptied of sin ; 
whereas these were emptied of sin first, and then filled 
with love. Perhaps it pleased God to work in this manner, to 
make his work more plain and undeniable ; and to distin- 
guish it more clearly from that overflowing love, which is 
often felt in a justified state." The same peculiarity has 
marked the reception of this blessing, very generally, ever 
since. 

3. But observe : we do not deny that there have been 
exceptions, — glorious exceptions to this general rule, who 
have been cleansed from all sin, and filled with perfect 
love, at the same moment. Our God is not confined to 
this or that method. " He dispenses his gifts just as he 
pleases. His usual method is one thing, but his sovereign 
pleasure is another.'' To affirm of one, to the exclusion 
of the other, is neither wise nor modest, — at least so it 
appears to me. ^' / speak as unto wise men, judge ye 
what I say!" And, whether the Lord our God purifies 
some among us, without filling their heart with love and 
ecstasy ; while he hoih purifies and fills others at the same 
moment : let us rest in his pleasure, and adore his good- 
ness. 

4. Let all who assist in our pi'ayer meetings bear these 
distinctions in mind ; and let not one method of teaching 
go to exclude or disparage the other. Let us be of one 
mind ; and honour the pleasure of God in both. It will, 
however, greatly assist seekers of full salvation, to explain 
to them the economy of God therein. 

5. There is a great advantage, I admit, in being cleansed 

10 



110 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

from all sin, smA filled with love and joy, at the same mo- 
ment. But I doubt whether it is really an advantage to 
after-experience ; — especially if mixed with much joy, or 
ecstasy. Joy is a variable grace, and Love has many 
degrees. Whereas Purity is not so variable ; — they will 
compare, as blinks of sunshine with the pure steady stars 
in the firmament of heaven, 

6. Purity of heart, to use a tidal phrase, is " the low 
water mark" of sanctification ; — all above that are but 
higher degrees of the same blessing, — such as perfect lovey 
perfect joy^ &c. But the abiding evidence of sanctification, 
is purity of heart. And the blessedness and beauty of it 
is this, however much reduced the humbled soul may be in 
joy, &c., purity may abide, and calmly await the return- 
ing tide of full salvation. 

7. It was partly on this account, I have thought, that 
Jesus pronounced a blessing upon "the pure in heart.'' 
Such are blessed in many ways, and in this one way in 
particular ; — they can see God in the lowest ebb of their 
spiritual joys, as well as at their highest spring tide! 

8. This was the reason why an excellent man so heartily 
praised God, when he came to understand his economy 
towards him. He had long sought for this blessing, — 
even for years, but in vain. Two things stood in his way. 
1. He shrunk back from the venture of faith. 2. He 
limited God ; and would have the blessing in no other 
way, than in the extraordinary manner he had marked 
out for him in his imagination. Naaman-like^ he thought 
God would lay his hand upon him, and fill and overwhelm 
him with his glory. But when he did venture upon the 
veracity of Jesus, in Matt. 21: 22, "And all things 
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall re- 
ceive,'' and trusting in the promise of Jesus, as he 
would in that of 2i friend, he instantly received the bless- 
ing. He knew it was the blessing for which he had wept 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. Ill 

and prayed for years. And yet he felt no joy ; only that 
he was emptied of sin and self, and prostrated in the 
deepest humility before God. 

This man of God Avas filled with thankfulness many 
times after, that he did not receive the blessing in the 
fulness of joy. He said he had no doubt, that after this 
joy had subsided, he would have fallen into doubt, and 
cast away the blessing. But that ever after, whether 
elevated or depressed, it made no difference with his confi- 
dence. He rested in Jesus, who was his object and aim, 
entirely free from agitations and evil reasonings. 

But let us proceed to another question. 

III. " Js it correct teaching to say that we cannot retain 
the blessing of entire sanctijication, unless we PROFESS IT?" 

1. To this I reply: the profession of it is certainly a 
great help to the retaining of it. As it fans the flame 
of love ; and gives the soul a clearer insight into its nature 
and power. It brightens and strengthens the evidence. 
Some, it is likely, could not retain it, unless they fre- 
quently prof essed it. But, with others, it might be different; 
— the weak and nervous, for instance. Besides, some are 
so gifted, that a necessity is laid upon them by the Holy 
Spirit. 

2. The question, however, is not very clearly defined. 
I should like to listen to such teaching, or to have its 
material stated ; — as to how often, and under what, or if 
under every, circumstance, we must profess it ? At every 
opportunity, and upon every occasion, and before all sorts 
of company ? Or only upon suitable occasions, and before 
spiritual and select circles ? The latter, I should hope ; 
and especially to those who enjoy it, or who are earnestly 
seeking it. We may say of this subject, what Mr. Wesley 
said of justification by faith, " I do not find this a profit- 
able subject to an unawakened congregation.*' But as 
good news from a far country ; or as pure water to a thirsty 



112 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

soul, SO is the testimony of a purified believer^ to those 
who enjoy it, or to those who are athirst for it. 

3. Mr. Wesley, in answer to a question bearing upon 
preaching sanctification, gave that short reply, " Scarce at 
all to those who are not pressing after it.'' Why not? 
Perhaps, because they needed preaching of a different sort. 
Well, as in preaching it, why not in professing it ? — Cir- 
cumstances should be consulted. If a somewhat different 
testimony is more needful, the blessing would not be for- 
feited by giving that in preference. 

4. It is written, " Ye are my witnesses^ saith the Lordy'* 
— a general intimation^ and may be extensively applied. 
Nor is the inference forced, or far-fetched, that when he 
bestows such a great blessing, we should cheerfully wit- 
ness to his power and goodness ; — ^but in a self-depressing 
and Christ-exalting spirit. Otherwise we may sin against 
our own souls, while we are witnessing for him. If we 
are seeking our own glory ^ instead of his, we certainly 
are. This is an important point, and should ever be kept 
in mind. For when there is a felt temptation to this, 
which we have not grace to subdue, it is better to be 
silent. We are in less danger of losing the blessing by 
silence^ than by professing it. 

5. And we may be thus tempted. Satan is always ready 
to take advantage of our weaknesses ; — either to seal our 
lips entirely upon the subject, or to turn our testimony 
into sin. However, if we cry to God in the time of trial, 
he is ever ready to give us the victory, — through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The testimony may be borne, with a single 
eye to his glory ^ then it becomes the means of an uncom- 
mon blessing from God. 

6. It is hardly safe^ I imagine, to lay down absolute 
rules upon this subject. What may be our duty at one 
time and place, may not be in another. " The mind of 
the Spirit" is known unto the Lord, Rom. 8: 27; and tA^ 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OP SANCTIFICATION. 113 

mind of the Spirit should be known unto us, and followed. 
Then, and not till then, shall we understand those " mani- 
festations of the Spirit which are given to every man to 
profit withal;'' and those ''diversities of gifts ^ and differ- 
ences of administrations^ and diversities of operations^'' 
spoken of by St. Paul, in 1 Cor. 12 : 4, 7, — all being 
wrought by '' that one and self-same Spirit, dividing to 
every man severally as he will;" ay, and appointing to the 
same person, as he will, a diversity of duties, and differ- 
ence of administrations, without any loss to the work of 
holiness within. 

7. Bear these things in mind, my brethren, and it may 
save you from falling into the snare of the Devil. I shrink 
from anything dogmatical, or dictatorial, in laying down 
rules for all and every one to follow, in this matter. We 
should attend, each for himself and herself, to the teach- 
ings and leadings of the Holy Spirit, — which we should 
follow with great simplicity and singleness of intention, — 
observing closely his operations within us, and looking for 
differences of administrations. This will save us from 
hobby and one-idea'd counges of action, which so frequently 
distort character, and injure the cause they would serve. 

8. The effects of silence or profession upon one's own 
evidence within, should be closely observed. We should 
profess no more than we feel; — make no more show than 
we possess substance to sustain. It is a bad bank that has 
more bills out than it has gold in the vault, or means at 
command to redeem. 

9. An old writer, I remember, cautions thus ; — that we 
do not in our religious professions lay open more before 
men, than Grod, in secret, sees that we possess ; — that pro- 
fession should in no case exceed possession ; — that there 
should be a good ground for our colours ! — that the oil in 
the vessel should be in proportion to the light in the lamp ! — 

10* 



114 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

that is, that we are as good as we seem ; and our profes- 
sion be as free from hypocrisy^ as from impropinety. 

10. In general, it is well, at proper seasons, to testify 
to our personal enjoyments in holiness. '' It is good to 
hide the secrets of a hing^ hut to declare the loving -kindness 
of the Lord.'' But, it is better to place the subjects of 
this divine grace under the guidance of the Soly Spirit^ 
than under the absolute control of human rules ; — or to 
positively assert, without qualification, '' You will lose the 
blessing, unless you profess it.'' The Devil is apt to make 
capital of such assertions ; and out of it may weave a 
snare for the soul, and bring about thereby the very loss 
the assertion was intended to prevent. It may generate 
a scrupulous conscience^ and a morbid sensibility^ which 
may render the individual ridiculous^ and the whole sub- 
ject distasteful. 

11. I like Mr. Wesley's views upon the subject. In 
answer to the question, '' Suppose one had attained to 
this, would you advise him to speak of it?*' Mr. W. 
says, '^ At first perhaps he would scarce be able to refrain, 
the fire would be so hot within him ; his desire to declare 
the loving-kindness of the Lord carrying him away like a 
torrent. But afterward he might ; and then it would be 
advisable not to speak of it to them that know not God ; 
[it is most likely it would only provoke them to contradict 
and blaspheme ;] nor to others^ without some particular 
reason^ without some good view. And then he should have 
especial care to avoid all appearance of boasting ; to speak 
with the deepest humility and reverence, giving all the 
glory to God.'' 

< But would it not be better to be entirely silent, not to 
speak of it at all?' Mr. W. replies: ''By silence he 
might avoid many crosses^ which will naturally and neces- 
sarily ensue, if he simply declare, even among believers, 
what God has wrought in his soul. If, therefore, such a 



WITNESS AND PROFESSION OF SANCTIFICATION. 115 

one was to confer with flesh and blood, he would be en- 
tirely silent. But this could not be done with a clear con- 
science ; for undoubtedly he ought to speak. Men do not 
light a candle to put it under a bushel ; much less does the 
all-wise God. He does not raise such a monument of his 
power and love, to hide it from all mankind. Rather he 
intends it as a general blessing to those who are simple of 
heart. He designs thereby, not barely the happiness of 
that individual person, but the animating and encouraging 
others to follow after the same blessing. His will is, ' that 
many shall see it^' and rejoice, ' and put their trust in the 
Lord.' Nor does anything under heaven more quicken 
the desires of those who are justified, than to converse 
with those whom they believe to have experienced a still 
higher salvation. This places that salvation full in their 
view, and increases their hunger and thirst after it ; an 
advantage which must have been entirely lost, had the 
person so saved buried himself in silence.'' 

^But is there no way to prevent these crosses which 
usually fall on those who speak of being thus saved ?' 

'' It seems they cannot be prevented altogether, while 
so much of nature remains in believers. But something 
might be done, if the preacher in every place would, (1) 
Talk freely with all who speak thus ; and (2) Labour to 
prevent the unjust or unkind treatment of those in favour 
of whom there is reasonable proof." 

' What is reasonable proof ? How may we certainly 
know one that is saved from all sin ?' 

" We cannot infallibly know one thus saved, [no, nor 
even one that is justified,] unless it should please God to 
endow us with the miraculous discernment of spirits. But 
we apprehend those would be suflicient proofs to any rea- 
sonable man, and such as would leave little room to doubt 
either the truth or depth of the work : (1) If we had clear 
evidence of his exemplary behaviour for some time before 



116 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

this supposed change. This would give us reason to be- 
lieve, he would not 'lie for Grod/ but speak neither more 
nor less than he felt : (2) If he gave a distinct account of 
the time and manner wherein the change was wrought, 
with sound speech which could not be reproved ; and, (3) 
If it appeared that all his subsequent words and actions 
were holy and unblamable." 

'i The short of the matter is this," adds Mr. Wesley, (1) 
I have abundant reason to believe, this person will not lie ; 
(2) He testifies before God, ' I feel no sin, but all love ; I 
pray,. rejoice, and give thanks without ceasing ; and I have 
as clear an inward witness, that I am fully renewed, as 
that I am justified.' Now, if I have nothing to oppose to 
this plain testimony, I ought in reason to believe it. It 
avails nothing to object, 'But I know several things 
wherein he is quite mistaken.' For it has been allowed 
that all who are in the body are liable to mistake ; and 
that a mistake m judgment may sometimes occasion a mis- 
take in practice ; though great care should be taken that 
no ill use be made of this concession." 

12. Now, let those who difi'er in judgment, upon the 
points in question, weigh well these remarks ; for they 
seem to cover the entire ground. And let me add, the 
profession of this blessing upon proper occasions, by those 
who enjoy it, is seldom unattended with a blessing from 
God, to him who speaks, and to those who hear. It 
brightens the evidence of it ; — gives the soul a firmer hold 
of it ; — imparts a larger measure of both faith and love, 
together with a keener relish for more and more of it. 
It stimulates the conscience, and the heart, to greater 
tenderness and sensibility. It lays upon the soul a heavier 
responsibility to live it out before his fellow men, and to 
guard the sacred treasure from being lost by inward or 
outward unfaithfulness. Besides, it is a powerful means 
of stirring up justified persons, to press after it. 



INDWELLING SIN. 117 

** The gift which he on one bestows, 
We all delight to prove : 
The grace through every vessel flows, 
In purest streams of love." 

13. Now when such advantages flow from such testimo- 
nies, is it wise to discourage them ? But at the same time, 
it is neither wise nor safe to dictate absolute rules to govern 
such. Let us beware that we bring not those into bond- 
age^ whom God has made free; or that we tempt not 
Satan to lay a snare for such, by daring them to profess 
it, on pain of losing it. what evils have arisen from 
this already, in some places ! And how distasteful it has 
made the doctrine of sanctification to some, and frightful j 
as to its train of duties and consequences, to those who 
would fain seek its enjoyment. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

INDWELLING SIN. 
A SERMON. 



** I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say^ 1 Cor. 10 : 15. 

1. The same text once more ! — and my theme ? the 
same ! — holiness^ — the necessity of holiness ; — but another 
line of argument ; — something about outward character, 
but more regarding the inward character ; — your yet m- 
perfectly developed character. 

2. Are you aware that astronomers have noticed for 
several years past, an unaccountable disturbance among 
some of the planets ? and that at length they concluded 
that it must arise from the attractions of some yet undis- 
covered orb, which as yet had no place in the zodiacal 



118 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

chart? — that is, I suppose, a chart of that circle in the 
heavens, which contains the twelve signs through which 
the sun passes in his annual course. They observed cer- 
tain planets to gain or lose time in their orbits, and guessed 
at the cause, — some yet undiscovered orb or other ; and 
began to lay down certain rules to aid them in finding it ; 
thus : when a planet lagged behind^ the retarding cause 
must be sought in the rear of the dilatory planet; but 
when the motions of a planet were observed to be in advance 
of true time, then the accelerating cause must be ahead of 
it, and sought for in that part of the sky ! 

Guided by such suppositions, they began to traverse 
the sky with powerful telescopes. Year succeeded to year, 
but the disturber of the planetary motions remained undis- 
covered ; — until the present year, 1846, when, lo it was 
found, a short distance in advance of the Moon ! and thus 
the suspicions of astronomers were confirmed. Already 
has it taken its name on the zodiacal chart, under the title 
of Neptune ! 

3. But what has all this to do with us ? I answer, it 
may serve as an illustration of the religious eccentricities 
of some present! It may put us on the track of that 
which has disturbed your soul so often in her orbit ; — the 
attracting cause, which has retai^ded your soul from good, 
or quickened its motions to evil. Now do you understand 

me ? — INDWELLING SIN ! 

4. What is it, I ask, that has so frequently made you 
dilatory in going to secret prayer ? — to class meeting ?— 
to prayer meeting f — to hear the word preached ? Indwell- 
ing sin. 

What is it that has held you back so often from family 
prayer? — from asking a blessing at your table? — from 
reading the Scriptures ? — from the Lord's table f or which 
rendered the duty so dragging and so lifeless ? What but 

INDWELLING SIN. 



INDWELLING SIN. 119 

5. What is it that has so often retarded you from self- 
denial ? from hearing your cross ? — from acts of benevo- 
lence ? — from growing in grace ? — from pressing sincerely 
after holiness^ and from obtaining the blessing ? What 
but indwelling sin ? 

6. What is that which has impelled your soul so swiftly 
towards evil ? — in thinking wrong ? — in speaking tvrong ? 
— in acting wrong ? What but indwelling sin ? 

7. What is it, that has imparted to your nature such a 
fearful velocity towards your easily besetting sin ? — which 
has drawn you away by so sensible and so fatal an attrac- 
tion^ from all that was pure, lovely, holy, just and good ? 
Oh what, but the sad cause of all your melancholy depar- 
tures from God ? Indwelling sin ! 

8. What is it, that has been often so fatal to your 
peace ? — to your communion with Grod ? — to your self- 
respect ? Indwelling sin. 

9. What, or for what, has God had so frequently to 
chastise you, in your soul, — or body, — or estate, — or do- 
mestic affairs, — or in business ? for what, but for yielding 
to the retarding influences, attractions, or impulses of 
indwelling sin ? 

10. And what is it, that is likely to bring a stain upon 
your character ? — a reproach upon the cause of God ; — 
causing his enemies to blaspheme the worthy name by 
which you are called ? What, but your dangerous foe, 
indwelling sin ? 

11. What is that, which may warm the breast like sun- 
shine, but which is but the kindling of an evil flame, which 
many waters may not quench ? — may resemble the fire- 
brand [in the fable] which an eagle carried off from a 
sacrifice, and placed in the side of her nest, and which 
warmed her and her young, like sunshine from heaven, 
but which set the nest on fire^ and burned them out ? O 



120 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, — it is indwelling 
Sin ! 

12. And what is that, which may palm itself off upon 
a man, as his bosom friend — may walk with him through 
a good part of life under that deceitful mask ; — and, sud- 
denly, at last, precipitate him into sin and ruin, — perhaps 
into Hell ? Indwelling sin. 

13. my God, interfere, and deliver us all from this 
treacherous hosom foe. And seeing, as the Apostle de- 
clares, we are compassed about with so great a cloud of 
witnesses ; — enable us to lay aside every weight, and 
this body of indwelling sin, which doth so easily beset ; — 
cast it out and destroy it, most gracious God ! that we 
may run with patience, alacrity, and joy, the race that 
thou hast set before us : looking unto Jesus. Heb. 12 : 
1,2. 

14. But to return to the newly-discovered planet. The 
astronomers of Europe and America could do nothing 
more with it, than to name it, and place it upon their 
astronomical charts ; — no more. They could not remove 
it from the sky ; but have left it there to go on with its 
<' disturbances,'' and perhaps frustrate their calculations 
of the motions of the other planets. 

It is not so with the ministers of Jesus Christ. We have 
been taught in what part of compound man, to seek for 
the disturber of his peace, and the cause of his sinful 
eccentricities ; — in his heart ; and we have named it, In- 
dwelling Sin. But we are not necessitated to leave it 
there, after describing its nature and woful influences. 
No ! but we can point out the only and true method for 
its removal. 

15. Observe again : that hitherto unknown planet was 
the work of an Almighty hand ; and although man by the 
intervention of his instruments, and the power of his tele- 
scope, has detected the planetary disturbance, and the 



INDWELLING SIN. 121 

disturber : doubtless it is working out some important and 
useful results in the economy of the universe. 

But indwelling sin^ is the work of the Devil ; — that 
disturber of your peace, — that retarder of your heavenward 
progression ; — that impeller to evil, is the work of the 
Devil. It is on this, and other accounts, God seeks its 
destruction. For this the Son of God was manifested in 
the flesh, — to destroy the works of the Devil. 1 John 3 : 8. 

16. It is not likely the orb in question, has ever, or 
shall ever injure the planets it so particularly influences. 
They may need just such a compensating power, to make up 
for the loss or gain in their motions, as they sweep around 
other portions of their orbit. / speak as a child. What 
we Tcnoiv not now, we shall hiow hereafter! That is a 
comfort even with regard to the mysteries of astronomy ! 

17. We cannot say this of indwelling sin. Alas ! no ! 
the injuries it inflicts upon our race are too 7iotorious. But 
as to the full extent of the injury, we must die to know ; 
— we must live through Eternity to know : for Eternity 
will still be the chronicler of its terrible history. 

18. This we do know now, that its influences are evil, 
and only evil, and that continually; — some it retards 
from good, — stains and corrupts, and enfeebles them ; — 
others it draws quite out of their orbit, so that they are 
no more seen among the constellations of the church, or in 
the paths of usefulness ; — alas ! they have been drawn 
quite out of their orbit, by its infernal attractions, and 
they shine no more, — unless it be to enlighten the path to 
Hell, — adrift and on fire, in fact, shedding malignant in- 
fiiiences all around, — till they go blazing into perdition. 

19. And, now, " I speak as to wise men, judge ye what 
I say !*' Let each of you call to remembrance your short- 
comings, and your misdoings ; — consider the tardiness of 
your movements in soul afi'airs, and in pleasing God ; — 

consider also your impulsiveness in doing what you should 
11 



122 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

not ; — and, what more can I say, just here ? What better 
than this ? as the astronomers sought diligently for that 
disturbing orb^ until they found it : so do you, my brethren, 
until you clearly discover the position and nature of the 
disturber of your peace, &c. ; and then seek its entire 
destruction. 

20. Doubt not that such a foe is entrenched in your na- 
ture, if you have not been entirely sanctified. It is there. 
Doubt it not, I beseech you. Examine yourselves closely. 
No rest^ — no peace be unto you, nor safety^ until the 
enemy is detected, his citadel taken, and he cast out and 
destroyed ! Satan is against all this ; you cannot doubt 
that. be resolute and courageous, and Christ Jesus will 
give you the victory ! 

21. Indwelling sin is the Devil's most faithful ally^ and 
the hope of devils. What David's enemies said of him, 
fiends may say of you, if indwelling sin still cleaves to 
your nature ; '' An evil disease^ say they^ cleaveth fast unto 
liim : and now that he liethj he shall rise no more." Ps. 
41 : 8. That '' evil disease ' was their hope ; and indwell- 
ing sin is the hope of devils ! And, as David said in his 
heart, on another occasion, '' I shall now perish one day 
by the hand of Saul ;'' alas, how truthfully, God only can 
tell, might some of us say the same concerning indwelling 
sin, unless it is dethroned and destroyed. Hear me, my 
brother, hast thou no such feelings ? no such fears f 

St. Peter declares that '<> fleshly lusts war against the 
soul,'' and urges us, as strangers and pilgrims, to abstain 
from them ; — to cease from sin, 1 Peter 4:1; and St. 
Paul urges '' the putting off the BODY of the sins of the 
fiesh," Cor. 2 : 11 ; and again, " that the BODY of sin might 
be destroyed," Rom. 6 : 6 ; — not a limb or two of sin, but 
its entire body is to be destroyed, — as truly dead as the 
human body, when the soul has departed. 



INDWELLING SIN. 123 

22. Indwelling sin increases the power of outward 

SIN. 

It is the plague of the hearty says Solomon. 1 Kings 8 : 
38. It betrays the soul into the hand of the enemy, in 
the evil day. What the lords of the Philistines feared 
concerning Ddvid^ indwelling sin frequently illustrates: 
'' Let him not go down with us to the battle, lest in the 
battle he be an adversary to us : for wherewith should he 
reconcile himself unto his master , should it not be with the 
heads of these men ? He will fall to his master Saul, 
TO THE JEOPARDY OF OUR HEADS." Who could blame them 
for so reasoning? ''Let him not go down with us to the 
battle^'' was the dictate of prudence. But the same may 
be said of indivelling sin. Would to God we had the 
prudeyice of these lords of the Philistines ! — we would not 
stir another step until this traitor has been expelled from 
our hearts ! 

23. Hearken unto me, all ye who fear God ! Deliver 
up this foe, — this Agag, that it may be hewn in pieces be- 
fore the Lord. Be it dear and necessary to your comfort, 
as a right hand and eye, or a foot, as Jesus hints, Matt. 
5 : 29, 30. cut it off, and cast it from you ; — hate it 
and disown it for ever. Was it not upon this principle 
that a pious lady in Italy declared, that if she could sup- 
pose any part of her being opposed to the will of God, 
she should desire its utter destruction ; — that it might 
be cast away from her, like driven dust before the winds ! 
And is not indivelling sin opposed to the will of God? 
Has it not become, so to speak, a part of your very being ? 
and, 0, can you desire anything less or more than its 
utter destruction ? Can you doubt that God desires the 
same ? Is it not one of the works of the Devil, — his 
chief work, in fact, which he came to destroy ? 1 John 
3:8. 



124 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE ENEMY WITHIN. 

A SEEMON. 

^^ I speah as to wise men; judge ye what I say^ 1 Cor. 10: 15. 

1. The same text again ! It suits my mode of address- 
ing you ; as I desire to pay but little attention to what is 
called ^^sermonizing;" but just to tell you all that is in 
my heart; — all I hope, and all that I fear concerning 
you. But it is not likely I shall take the text any more 
here. 

2. In my last discourse I spoke largely of indwelling 
sin; nor do I wonder it has excited «^ various queries." 
It is not easy, at all times, to give to abstract subjects "a 
body and a form ;" but as regards indwelling sin^ we think 
there is not ^^much difficulty." Follow me closely. 

3. Theologians define sin, strictly speaking, to be a 
voluntary transgression of a known law of God ; — that was 
St. John's idea, " sin is the transgression of the law.*' 
Now, though we may not actually sin, yet we may be 
tempted to sin. The temptation may be from an outward 
or an inward source ; — from things seen without, or felt 
within. It may be extraneous^ that is, from things which 
are not of us, — as the world, and the Devil ; — may pro- 
ceed from human or infernal beings ; or it may be inter- 
nal, or within ourselves, and from ourselves ; — that is from 
indivelling sin. 

4. Indwelling sin may be called the sinning principle 
of our nature. It may be negative, or positive ; — nega- 
tive, — that is, in an apparently dormant, or do-nothing 
state. I say apparently, — not really, for indwelling sin, 
like air or water, is, perhaps, never entirely at rest! But 



THE ENEMY WITHIN. 125 

in this state, it diffuses an evil, or enervating malaria^ by 
which the soul is indisposed to stir up the gift of God that 
is within it ; — to watch unto prayer, — press after holiness, 
or to bear the cross in well-doing. This is its negative 
state, — because it disposes to a negative or do-nothing 
religion ; — so that a man's religion, if he have any, may 
all run in nots; — he is not this, and not that, but he is a 
good-for-nothing in the cause of God ! But indwelling 
sin may be positive ; — that is directly active ; — strongly 
inclining the soul to wickedness, in thought or word, in 
temper, deed or desire. Now do you understand me ? But 
let us proceed a little farther. 

5. Mr. Wesley, I remember, remarking upon this inter- 
nal tempter, observes, '' There are in every person, even 
after he is justified, tivo contrary principles^ nature and 
grace, termed by St. Paul, the flesh and the Spirit^ Gal. 
5: 17; and these two are plainly contrary to each other, 
< the flesh lusting against the Spirit ; nature opposing 
grace.'" Ah! who of us have never felt this? — never 
mourned over this conflict within. 

6. Indwelling sin signalizes itself variously in the soul; 
— in a proneness of heart to evil ; — to depart from the 
living God ; — to cleave to earth, and sin ; — a sensibly felt 
inclination to pride, — to anger, — self-will, — vanity, — im- 
purity, — and unbelief; — operates in whatever the soul 
engages itself in ; — even, as Mr. Wesley observes, in its 
lest actions^ and holiest duties ; — temptations return and 
sin revives ; — to the sorrow and shame of the soul, it re- 
vives, — the remains of the old man^ — tainted with much 
of the former tempers and affections. Alas ! alas ! who 
of us can deny that thus and thus has it been in our ex- 
perience ! The usurper in our hearty but not on the 
throne ; thank God for that victory ! It was permitted 
to remain^ but not to reign; — it warred^ but conquered 
not ;^— thrust hard at us, that we might fall ; but we did 

11* 



126 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

not, for the Lord was our helper. But have we always 
had this victory ? Ah ! let every one of us look back, 
and we shall see much that should humble and alarm. 
But more of this by and by. 

7. Those who are groaning for deliverance, — who are 
near to full salvation : what is their state ? I reply : 
'^ the old man is being crucified ;" — is nailed to the cross, 
— dying, but not dead, — ^^ bleeding to death, drop by 
drop," to use a strong expression of Madame Ghiyon^ — 
'' bleeding to death, drop by drop ;" but not dead ; reviv- 
ing, alas ! again and again ; yet so long as it neither 
reigns nor conquers, the soul doubts not of the favour of 
God, and often rejoices. 

8. The peril from this inbred foe is often imminent. 
But so long as the soul watches unto prayer, and looks 
unto Jesus, it is preserved ; but not to the binding or de- 
struction of free willy — that too frequently is on the point 
of yielding to the clamours of self and passion, — " the 
lody of sin;'' — look back! Consider! how often have 
you yielded, and fallen into secret sin and condemnation ! 
— Ay ! so as to force from your sad and unhappy soul, the 
melancholy, and too frequent confession, — 

'* Here I repent and sin again ; 
Now I revive, and now am slain ; 
Slain by the same unhappy dart, 
Which, 0! so often wounds my heart.'^ 

9. Indwelling sin, has proved to many of you a thief 
and a sivindler. It has stolen away your heart from God. 
It has swindled you out of much precious time ; — and out 
of your peace and your principles ; — out of the light of 
God's countenance, and the life of God in your soul, — 
love, confidence, — joy ; — out of your self-respect , — and 
character, perhaps. Its depredations have been constant, 
wasting and weakening, in some, and ruinous in others. 



THE ENEMY WlTIIIN^. 127 

Its workings are " the depths of Satan," and would corrupt 
all the fountains of feeling in the soul ;— that God would 
show, — 

" Show you as your soul can bear 
All the depth of inbred sin : 
All the unbelief declare, 
The pride that lurks within. 

10. And now, after all this, is it not too bad that you 
are indisposed to deliver up this inward foe, to be slain by 
the sword of /the Spirit? that you are unwilling to unite 
with <^the aod of Jeshurun;' to have this enemy thrust 
out, and destroyed f Nay, that you will patronize or keep 
company with such an enemy ? 

Who would desire,— what honest man or woman, would 
desire the companionship of the thieves and swindlers of 
this town ? Would you ? Would not that honest principle 
which God has implanted in your bosom, recoil from such 
associates? But suppose you had a considerable amount 
of money about your person: that would be a second and 
strong reason for rejecting their company. I have told 
you what inward sin, with its gang, has accomplished in 
some or most of those here present, at one time, way or 
other, m their past experience ;-how it has swindled them 
of what money could not purchase, because so much more 
valuable than monej— infinitely more valuable, be the sum 
ever so great. But by this you may surmise what it pro- 
poses to do ; or what Satan intends to accomplish against 
you by It ;— to rob you of all the wealth of grace in°your 
soul. For no matter how much grace may be bestowed 
upon you, it is never sa/e,— cannot be while imvard sin 
has possession of your heart. Lord, open the younq 
mans eyes that he may see, was the cry of the prophet 
Wisha. My cry is the same, and ought to be more 
piercing and prevailing, because the danger is more im- 
minent. 



128 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

11. The ancient philosophers used to utter many " spicy 
things," and often have I been amused at their shrewd say-- 
ings. I do not remember, however, to have met wdth any- 
thing richer than the following. An old philosopher was 
once asked for a definition of the word Opulence. " Opu-^ 
lence,'' said he, ^' Opulence ? I will tell you what opulence 
is : — it is -that which gives a rascal the advantage of an 
honest man!'' Well, if you were to ask me, «'What is 
indwelling sin?'' I would reply, It is that which gives a 
rascally temptation the advantage of an hitherto honest 
soul ! — that is just what it is. " I speak as to wise men ; 
Judge ye what I say.'' But, 0, not only judge, but give 
judgment of death against this inhred foe, and our Lord 
Jesus Christ will soon order it forth for execution. 

12. Need anything more be said to procure judgment ? 
How often, since God converted your soul, has this hosom 
abomination got the advantage of you ! How often has 
temptation gained the victory, by this treacherous adver- 
sary ; — in things, too, which you once shuddered to think 
of ; — which you thought impossible ! How many broken 
vows and resolutions has it caused to be charged against 
you ! Alas ! alas ! my brother ! it may one day prevail 
fearfully and fatally. 

13. Hearken. Be humUed to the dust for the past. 
Awake to your peril for the future ; — as you would were 
you walking amidst flying sparks, and your pockets full 
of exposed gunpowder ! 

Suppose it were so, and you were necessitated to walk 
there : how soon you would fly from tile spot, and empty 
your pockets of the perilous material ! — especially if ex- 
plosions were taking place around you from a similar 
cause ; and persons, — maimed persons, appearing here and 
there in the community, disfigured in by-gone years, from 
the same cause. Would you not fly, and discharge your 
pockets ? To be sure you would ! Who would tempt 



THE ENEMY WITHIN. 129 

Providence thus ? Who but a fool, or he who desired 
self-destruction ? 

14. Now, hear me, and mark well what I am going to 
say : Indwelling sin is as perilous to your character ^ to 
your peaccy and to your soul, as gunpoivder would be to 
your garments, and to your person. The sparks of temp- 
tation are flying thick and fast around you everywhere 
you go ; and explosions from this gunpowder of our nature 
are constantly occurring. Every person you meet has 
been injured more or less from the same cause. The town 
is full of backsliders, — poor, lacerated and maimed back- 
sliders ; and this has been the cause. And you know not, 
my brother, but your turn may come next ! — that you, 
yourself, may be the next example as a warning to others. 

15. There is no safety but in heart purity. Are you 
pure in heart? Examine yourself well. As pious Bax- 
ter advises, '^ If no danger appear, turn up all the cover- 
ings, and search and see that none be hidden. The Devil 
has his gunpowder plots and mines, which may blow you 
up before you are aware ;" and, as Dr. Adam Clarke ob- 
serves, a temptation may be as successful as it is sudden ; 
and the labour of a life may be lost by the folly of an 
hour ! 

16. A fair outside character is no proof of your safety. 
I climbed Mount Vesuvius some time since amidst the 
most luxuriant vineyards, loaded with the finest grapes 
that ever eyes beheld. But these could not persuade us 
that thfte was no volcano beneath, which might not break 
forth at any hour, and destroy all ; — as, indeed, it had 
done several times before! Thus it may be with some 
present. may the Holy Spirit arouse you to a sense 
of your danger ! 

17. Some of you may remember what D' Lambert, a 
French nobleman, said of Caritat, in the time of the 
French Revolution, — that he was a volcano covered with 



130 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

snow ; and that at a fit time the match was set, and there 
was an eruption^ and he perished in his own explosions by 
hunger or poison. 

Ah ! there are many such concealed volcanoes among 
professors of religion ! The numerous and fearful eases 
of unexpected backslidings, and disgraceful as unexpected, 
are proofs, but too fearfully convincing. 

There may be some such listening to me this hour. As 
in slumbering volcanoes, the elements of destruction are 
within their own bosoms. The Devil is on the look-out 
for a fit time to set the match ; when, alas ! there may be 
eruptions and explosions^ fatal to character^ as those were 
to the life of Oaritat ; — fatal to the fruits of righteous- 
ness, and to the city of Mansoul, [to use a phrase of 
Bunyan in his HoIt/ War"], as an eruption of Vesuvius^ 
was fatal to the vineyards on its bosom, and to the city of 
Torre del Grreco at its base, the latter part of the last 
century ; — or as to its Herculaneum and Pompeii in the 
first century ! 

Hearken unto me, my sincere brother ! You know 
not, and may you never know, what ?l feeble resistance you 
may ofier to such a spiritual eruption when it occurs. I 
was informed, that in the last eruption of Vesuvius, vines 
took fire, and trees exploded with heat, some time before 
the lava reached them; and that fences and barns and 
mansions, so far from ofi^ering a barrier, melted down and 
dissolved before the heat of that intense river of fire, 
which soon overwhelmed all in one common ruin. But 
such is an eruption of inbred sin, frequently ; — every 
barrier raised by virtue or religion, dissolves before it ! 

Ah ! my brother, the elements of your destruction are 
within your own bosom, if you are not cleansed from all 
sin. And you know not, and I pray again you may 
never know, what a leaf in the blast of temptation will be 
your poor soul; — a blast, which but too frequently comes 



THE ENEMY WITHIN. 131 

" from the mouth of elde8t Eell^'' through an evil heart of 
unbelief. Peter little thought, till it came, what d^ feather 
he would become in such a blast. thou most gracious 
God, search me, prove me, and see, and search and prove 
us all, and see whether there is any wickedness, or evil way 
within us, — or any such elements ready for the match of 
the Devil ! cleanse thou us, and lead us all in the way 
of purity, and life everlasting ! 

18. The time of trial is certainly coming, which is to 
try every unsanctified soul. Had I a prophet's vision, I 
might see it all, perhaps, in shadowy outline, — approaching 
as a cloud ; — might tell you of things to be developed in 
your future history, which would make you shudder, and 
cry out, " Impossible ! Could I ever become so fallen, or 
so vile, as to do this, and that !" Yea, my brother, I 
might say, for the Lord hath shown it unto me, that thus, 
and thus, and thus, shall be thy temptations, and positions, 
and circumstances ! 

19. I was reading to-day in the eighth chapter of the 
second book of Kings, how that Benhadad, King of Syria, 
lay sick ; and hearing that the prophet Elisha had arrived 
at Damascus, he sent a messenger to him, named Hazael, 
to inquire whether he would recover from his illness ? 
Misha replied, " Gro say unto him. Thou mayest certainly 
recover: howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall 

* surely die.'' The latter words, it struck me, were designed 
by. the prophet mainly for the ear of Hazael alone : 
^^ Howbeit the Lord hath showed me he shall surely die ;'* 
— implying that God had not determined his death, but 
that he should be foully assassinated by the hand of an- 
other, and that other was Hazael. 

The prophet then settled his countenance • steadfastly 
upon the man, until he felt ashamed, and then Elisha burst 
into tears. Hazael recovering himself from the look of 
Elisha, inquired, " Why weepeth my lord ?'' The prophet 



132 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

replied, ''Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto 
the children of Israel:'' and then gave him a list of his 
future crimes and cruelties^ enough to make a devil 
tremble. 

Hazael exclaimed, ''But what! is thy servant a dog^ 
that he should do this great thing T' The elements there- 
of were in HazaeVs heart, although, it would appear, he 
knew it not. That is a great point, and I wish to link it 
with what I am about to say. Ah ! my friend ! could I 
take you aside by yourself alone, and tell you with pro- 
phetical clearness and certainty^ that which you shall be 
guilty of doing in the future^ unless you are cleansed from 
all sin in the 'present : you also would recoil and exclaim 
with Hazael, " But what ! is thy servant a dog^ that he 
should do this great thing V Mark that ! — "this great 
tiling V — not these great crimes^ — these great cruelties^ — 
or these great sins ! — no ! but " this great thing.'' He 
did not recoil from the thought of them, — from the bare 
possibility of perpetrating them ; — a pretty sure indication 
that the elements were within him, which would one day 
excite him to the commission of the foulest deeds. 

20. And now let me ask you, in the presence of God, 
what mean those /awa^s, — those images which come up so 
frequently before your soul ? or those impulses to anger ^ 
or to impatience^ or to envy^ jealousy^ or revenge^ or lust ? 
Why is it that you do not recoil from them ? Why do they* 
receive, as it were, a half-welcome ? Ah ! my brother ! 
think as you like at times, and glory in your strength^ and 
principle^ much as you may, — these are indications that 
there are kindred elements in your heart, which may yet 
impel you to commit crimes not to be named. Every man 
has his hour ; and he knows not what he is^ or what he 
shall feel^ or say^ or do^ or how weak he is, till the hour of 
trial comes ! When the match is set, and the mine is sprung^ 
then soldiers find out what terrible elements were beneath 



THE ENEMY WITHIN. 133 

the soil, over which they walked so carelessly, because so 
ignorantly. 

21. Hazael had got a glimpse of a crown. The thought 
of a crown obtained hj foul means^ did not enter his mind 
for the first time, when Elisha said, <' The Lord hath 
showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.'' And, 
let me tell you, few of the sins by which Christians fall^ 
are entire strangers to the heart until the fatal hour of 
temptation ; — they make frequent visits to the soul, and 
strengthen the- corruptions^ which eventuate in ruin. 

22. Had I time, I would appeal more at large to the 
experience both of you who standi and those of you who 
have fallen. But the hint may be sufficient to awaken 
humbling, but profitable recollections. 

23. Alas ! sins^ the thought of which once made that 
man sitting over yonder exclaim, " What! am la dog that 
I should ever do that?" he does them now, with little or 
no remorse. And could I see i}\Q future of some of you, 
who enjoy religion now, I might point you to that man, 
and weep as freely as did Elisha over Hazael ; — might 
say, such will be John^ or James^ or William^ or Robert^ 
or Martha^ or Mary^ or Louisa^ or Caroline ; unless Acts 
15 : 9 becomes the experience of the heart, before the 
hour of temptation comes; — ''purifying their hearts by 
faith.'' Help, thou blessed Spirit^ help, and save the 
souls against whom Satan and his host are plotting ! 

24. Some poet says, "It is the heart that gives colour 
to our destiny." Indeed it is! There is no truer senti- 
ment than that. Who can doubt it, that has ever observed 
his own heart closely, how it has coloured his thoughts^ 
and words, and works ; — nor fail to say of it as Luther 
did, — that he feared his own heart more than the Pope, or 
all the cardinals in the world ? 

25. And who that reflects upon the power for good or 
evil, that is invested in the human heart, can wonder that 

12 



134 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

it is mentioned a thousand times in tlie Scriptures ? or ttat 
God says, '<' My son, give me thine heart f'' or that Jesus 
says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God?'' Or that Jesus should declare, that it is from 
within, out of the heart of man, proceed those things 
which defile them ; and to prove it, identified no less than 
thirteen corrupt streams which flow direct from the heart, 
as from an evil fountain ; as we may see in Mark 7 : 21, 22. 
And, in view of this, need we wonder, that purity of heart 
is so distinctly mentioned as the work of Grod, in Acts 15 : 
9, and faith as the God-appointed instrumentality ? 

26. The human heart is the great magazine, so to speak, 
where all the weapons of righteousness or unrighteousness 
are deposited. Ay ! and the vilest weapons of ungodliness 
may be there, without the owner knowing it, till occasion 
calls them forth into action. 

27. This was very forcibly pressed upon my mind the 
other day, when reading the tenth chapter of Isaiah. The 
instrument wherewith God threatened to chastise his back- 
slidden Israel is there pointed out ; — ^the King of Assyria ; 
— that he had chosen him to be the rod of his anger^ and 
the staff of his indignation, — to spoil them, and to tread 
them down as the mire of the streets. But it was the 
Seventh verse of the chapter that struck me, which reads 
thus: '' Hoiv be it, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart 
think so ; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off 
nations not a few.'' The Assyrian King was not himself 
aware that such principles, or purposes of extermination, 
were in his heart. They lay dormant there until occasion, 
or the acquisition of power, called them into action ! And 
thus it may be with thy heart, my brother ! may our 
Lord Jesus Christ preserve thee and me, and all who hear 
me this night, from the evils of an unsanctified heart ! 
May he deliver us from so perilous a thing, henceforth and 
for ever! 



THE ENEMY WITHIN. 135 

28. Again, and in conclusion, let me reiterate the warn- 
ing in the ears of earery one of you, there is no safety but 
in purity of heart. Get rid, I beseech you, of that gun- 
powder of your nature, of which we have been speaking. 
Or, if this be too strong a term for the mild and amiable 
temperament of some, why call it what one did, — " the 
treacherous inclination of the heart ;' or as another named 
it, '^ the tinder of your nature f — that which kindles when 
a siparlt of temptation falls upon it, and which is with diffi- 
culty overcome and extinguished ; — and seldom without 
loss. 

29. be exhorted ! be persuaded to press after a clean 
heart; — ''a heart in every thought renewed;'' — a heart 
filled with divine love; — ^^ filed with all the fulness of 
Grod^'' as St. Paul prays. forget not that Satan fills 
what God does not, — fills with pride, vanity, love of the 
world, hurtful desires, and whatever else of ^' the small 
fry" of secondary vices, he can introduce. Sad stoivage. 
Lord, cast it out of every heart ! Else, as a good minister 
observed, some of us may resemble the fire-ship, which, 
when the train takes, whatever mischief it may do to others, 
it will certainly sink itself ! 

30. The pure heart neutralizes every temptation, — there 
is nothing for the spark to kindle upon ; — it meets the 
same fate as a spark falling upon a marble floor, — it falls 
and dies, Happy the man who possesses a heart that never 
responds to a temptation ! — that realizes the full meaning 
of St. Paul's declaration, f^'Unto the pure, all things 
ARE pure;*' — remaining pure under all circumstances, as 
the sunbeam in the air, though shining on the worst ; to 
use a figure of Madame Gruyon ; — and now, while I think 
of it, resembling her experience: ^'My mind," remarked 
tliat emineiatly pious lady, — '' My mind had such a oneness 
with God, — such a unity with the Divine nature, nothing 
seemed to have power to soil it, and to diminish its purity. 



136 THE TRIUMPH OP TRUTH. 

It experienced the truth of that declaration of Scripture, 
that to the pure all things are pure;'' — unsullied^ she 
added, as the sunbeam^ shine upon what it may ; — '^ the 
Divine nature^'' of which she had been made the partaker, 
preserved her nature from contamination^ as God himself, 
though he beholds the evil and the good ! 

31. Let none of you shrink from such an experience as 
this, nor set it down as enthusiasm. What meant the 
apostle when he said, " whereby are given unto us exceed- 
ing great and precious promises ; that hy these ye might 
he partakers of the divine nature^ having escaped the cor- 
ruption that is in the world through lust'' 2 Peter 1 : 4. 
Is it too much to say, that possessed of such a nature^ the 
soul is enabled to purify itself^ even as He is pure^ 1 John 
3 : 3., and thus be preserved, like him, in spotless purity ? 

32. Happy ! thrice happy child of God ! — -thus purified^ 
— thus preserved^ with garments undefiled, even in Sodom ! 
— and allowed to walk with Jesus in white, being worthy ! 
Rev. 3 : 4. 

33. This is liberty ! this is true freedom and happiness 
here below. '' What hath the world to equal this ?" What 
happiness or liberty can it offer equal to this ? But neither 
the one nor the other can be enjoyed by that heart, whose 
operations are constantly contradicting each other ! That 
French divine never uttered a truer sentiment, than when 
he told his hearers that it was a contradiction in terms to 
suppose they could be happy, while the operations of their 
minds were clashing one with the other; and equally 
absurd to suppose that the Almighty could terminate the 
fatal war the tragical field of which is the human heart, 
without re-establishing the dominion of holiness. 



VISIT TO CASTLE DONINGTON. 137 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A VISIT TO CASTLE DONINGTON — AND RETURN TO 
NOTTINGHAM. 

The last date in Mr. Caughey's journal [in Chapter 
IV.] was May 30. About that time he made a visit to 
Castle Doni7igton, but soon returned again to Nottingham. 

The following notice of that visit, which appeared in 
" The Wesley an and Christian Record^'' will put the 
reader in possession of the results. 

'' The Rev. James Caughey. — It having been an- 
nounced that this very popular minister (who has been 
spending a few days at Castle Donington) would preach 
in the Wesleyan Chapel on Sunday last and the two fol- 
lowing evenings, the religious part of the community in 
the surrounding neighbourhood became exceedingly ex- 
cited, and in order to secure admission into the chapel, 
many of them arrived as early as seven o'clock in the 
morning, while others continued to pour into the town by 
hundreds till the appointed time for the commencement 
of the service. From reports received from different 
parts of the country, on Saturday evening, it became evi- 
dent that the chapel would not contain one-half of the 
persons likely to be present ; though efforts had been 
made to induce the friends in the immediate neighbour- 
hood to keep away till after the Sabbath. Mr. Caughey, 
however, to prevent disappointment, complied with the 
request of the fi'iends, and held the morning service in 
Mr. Joseph Sowter's paddock, where every accommodation 
that circumstances would admit of was made, and the 
utmost order prevailed, though it is supposed that upwards 
of two thousand persons were present. A public prayer 
12* 



138 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

meeting, very numerously attended, was held in the chapel 
in the afternoon, which was conducted in Mr. Caughey's 
usual manner. The evening service was held in the 
chapel, which was crowded almost to suffocation. The 
principal part of the seats on the ground floor being re- 
moved in order to afford more space, and every place that 
could command either the sight of the preacher's person, 
or the sound of his voice, was eagerly secured. Several 
hundred persons, however, were unable to gain admission, 
to whom Mr. S. Robinson, of Nottingham, preached in 
the market place. The congregations on Monday and 
Tuesday evenings were also very large, and the services 
were conducted in the same manner, and with the same 
success as the preceding ones. The congregation on 
Tuesday evening was very great. In the midst of the 
service, suddenly an overwhelming powerful descent of 
the Holy Ghost was visibly present. Such a time Castle 
Donington never before witnessed ; many will, we hop^ 
remember it, not only through time, but in eternity. 
Upon inquiry, we find that one hundred and eighty per- 
sons have given in their names as having received conver- 
sion during the reverend gentleman's Visit. At the first 
three services collections were made in aid of the chapel 
trust-funds, which amounted to <£41 65. 5(i." 

The following letter from Mr. C. refers to this visit : 

Nottingham, June 3, 1846. 
Visited Castle Donington last of May. Had a glorious 
time, surely ; — fields ripe for the spiritual harvest. Was 
entertained at the mansion of Mr. Sowter ; — pleasant 
place ; — felt much at home. Great success in preaching. 
While there, made a hasty visit to the noble residence of 
Lord Melbourne several miles from C. D. The grounds 
are prettily laid out ; — and such a variety of birds, native 
and foreign .! — so watchful, and agile, and happy, — 



VISIT TO CASTLE DONINGTON. 139 

^^Uereflew and perched, there swam and dived at pleasnre." 

We had quite a Methodist party from Castle Doning- 
ton ; — some rather gayly dressed, for Methodists, and 
some, in what might be considered the opposite extreme^ 
doubtless from conscientious motives, — presenting a nota- 
ble contrast; — but neither of the extremes, I confess, 
struck me agreeably. One of the party, — a lady, of the 
latter class, turned the conversation upon dress^ — evi- 
dently desirous that a corrective might be administered to 
the consciences of the ''gay ones,'' asked me, what mode 
of dress I considered most becoming to a Christian female ? 
My reply was somewhat after the following strain : 

1. Really I cannot answer that question satisfactorily, 
> I fear, as I have never yet been able to discover in the 

New Testament, what one might venture to denominate 
an exact Gospel standard of fashion, either as to texture^ 
materialj cut, form, or colour ; only, ladies, that the wear- 
ing of gold, pearls, and costly array are strictly forbidden, 
as you may find in 1 Timothy, 2 : 9, and in 1 Peter, 3 : 3. 
— Superfluous, or needless ornaments, and costly or extra- 
vagant apparel. Besides this, there is, you will perceive, 
in those Scriptures an allusion to certain fantastical em- 
broidery of the hair, — that is, bedecking it with gold, 
pearls, or jewelry ; though some say, it means crisping 
and curling and plaiting the hair, in a variegated and 
complex manner, which I cannot very well describe ; but 
quite contrary, doubtless, to the order of God in that 
beautiful covering or veil, with which he has adorned her, 
and which St. Paul declares elsewhere to be her glory, 1 
Cor. 11 : 15. 

2. These things, ladies, are prohibited in the New Tes- 
tament, and for wise reasons doubtless. But as to the 
exact sum, and no more, which we are to pay for a neces- 
sary article of dress, it is nowhere stated ; and the omis- 



140 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

sion was very proper ; because the value of such things 
varies so much in different ages and countries : thus, what 
was costli/ apparel in those days, might not be considered 
such in ours ; and what is costly in our times, would not, 
perhaps, have been so estimated in Apostolic times. All 
that is contemplated, probably, is, that Christians are 
conscientiously to avoid extravagance in dress, in all cases, 
places, ages, and countries, wherever they may reside. 

3. The material of our dress, is not so much guarded 
against, likely, as the expenditure of large sums in worJc- 
manship thereon, and in a profusion of needless and 
expensive ornaments, — the demands, for the most part, of 
pride or vanity, or something worse, — as you may per- 
ceive hinted at in the injunction, — '' that women adorn 
themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and 
SOBRIETY," 1 Tim. 2: 9: — indicating, as St. Peter 
observes, ^' the hidden man of the heart, in that which is 
not CORRUPTIBLE, even the ornament of a meek and quiet 
SPIRIT, which is in the sight of Crod of great price.'' 1 
Peter, 3: 4. '^ That women adorn themselves" — and, 
ladies, what woman worthy of the name, would not mark 
that little word adorn, with peculiar favour; — "that 
women adorn themselves," — not disfigure themselves, 
either by the extreme of finery, or of the niggardly in 
apparel. 

4. Thev are to adorn themselves, then. But how is it 
to be done ? — " in modest apparel," — the nearest to some- 
thing like a Grospel fashion, ladies, of anything I know of 
in all the Scriptures; — so that to adorn the person, is not 
prohibited in the Scriptures, but enjoined, that is, if done 
in a proper spirit, and as directed, " adorn themselves in 
modest apparel;" — such an apparel he considered as really 
adorning to her person ; — that it so becomes her most, as 
to adorn her most. Indeed, ladies, one of the ancients, 
Cartes, of Greece, though a native of such a showy nation, 



VISIT TO CASTLE DONINGTON. 141 

expressed a similar opinion, when he defined ornament to 
be that which really adorns ; — that the proper ornament 
of a woman is that which becomes her best ; but that no 
one should consider it to consist in gold^ pearls^ or in scar- 
let, but rather in those things which are evident proofs of 
gravity, regularity, and modesty. I like the idea of an- 
other, who desired rather to create a solicitude to dress 
the mind than the body ; — to polish the jewel rather than 
to varnish the casket ; — those were his words, ladies ; — he 
would have the dress of a well-improved mind; and not 
an ambition to vie with flowers, the meanest of which out- 
shines the most beautiful compositions of man ; but their 
highest ambition to have the mind decked with divine virtues, 
and dressed after the amiable pattern of the Redeemer's 
holiness. I forget now how he would have your outward 
persons attired, for he spoke of that, of course : but he 
could not have been far astray, ladies, if he thought pro- 
per to leave such outward matters to be controlled and 
directed by what an old writer calls the Queen of the 
Affections, — that Holiness which reigns within, in a sanc- 
tified heart ; — just as the holy general church of Christ 
may one day, perhaps, control the fashions of the world ; 
— as the world, now, alas ! too much controls the fashions 
of the church ! 

5. My own opinion, ladies, has long been, that the lady 
who has the taste amA judgment to dress, so as not to make 
herself conspicuous or remarkable, either by splendour or 
parsimony in her apparel, is really the true woman, an 
honour, in this respect at least, to the religion of Jesus, 
and worthy of honour, and I hereby honour her ! 

6. To dress thus, ladies, might require in some a con- 
siderable degree of self-denial, I am aware, but certainly 
not more than the spirit of Christianity requires, nor above 
what the grace of God would enable them to sustain. 

7. This standard of a lady's dress may pass for what it 



142 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

is worth. But it does seem to be the most unexceptionable 
rule one can think of, seeing we have no divinely authorized 
pattern, and so few articles of dress and ornament, are 
expressly prohibited in the New Testament 

8. Fashions^ ladies, change amazingly from generation 
to generation ; — some for the better^ and some for the worse ; 
nor are they wise altogether, who ascribe all the fashions 
to human ^nJ^ and vanity ^ aided by Satan; for some of 
them are highly beneficial, and therefore praiseworthy. 

9. Primitive Christians varied, doubtless, in their man- 
ner of dressing. Few, in our times, perhaps, would advo- 
cate a return to primitive costume ; — to say nothing of the 
uncertainty as to the particular time when it was most per- 
fect, or of its unadaptedness to our climate. And may we 
not see a reason in this fact, why the New Testament is 
silent as to the fashion of our dress ? A few things only 
are prohibited, and others enjoined, which are applicable 
to all ages, countries, and climates. The spirit of the G-os- 
pel does not forbid our conformity to the costume of the 
country where we live, — not in its extravagance^ but in all 
that is suitable and decent^ according to our age and gene- 
ral custom. 

10. We are not at liberty, in matters of dress, as Chris- 
tians, to disrespect, through whim or caprice, or any other 
feeling or motiYQ^ public taste and propriety; — especially 
when there is nothing therein contrary to the modest spirit 
of the Grospel; — when nothing is required of us but what 
is essential to decency and comfort^ personal and social. 
Courtesy may have its claim allowed, without any injury 
to piety or humility » Here both reason and religion unite 
in one plea, that custom may be our law, without any in- 
fringement upon our loyalty to God. 

11. We are hardly at liberty, I think, to disfigure our 
persons, by an affected singularity^ that we may reach the 
widest extreme from the world. We may follow the world 



RETURN TO NOTTINGHAM. 143 

with a good conscience, so far and so long as it goes right, 
departing from it when it is evidently wrong. 

12. It is very diflScult, you perceive, ladies, to lay down 
any positive rules upon the subject. The Christian lady 
who possesses a good taste, sound judgment, and an enlight- 
ened mind, and above all, a single eye^ — that is a single in- 
tention to please and glorify God in the matter of dress, 
as in all other things, will seldom fail in her selection of a 
proper medium between such extremes as we have been 
contemplating; — especially if she has that of which the 
apostle speaks so highly, ^'the ornament of a meek and, 
quiet spirit^ which is in the sight of Grod of great priceJ^ 

what hath the world of fashion to equal this ! 

** Than gold or pearl more precious far, 
And brighter than the morning star." 

Ladies, religion may be injured by either of those ex- 
tremes at which we have been glancing, — not offensively, 

1 trust, nor disrespectfully. 

The conversation quietly dropped, or rather changed to 
other subjects, and we had really a most agreeable excur- 
sion. 

On my return to Nottingham, stopped at Borrowash^ 
and spent a happy day at the mansion of Mr. Towle^ — 
a retired, sweet spot on the banks of the river Derwent ; — 
a most agreeable family; — weather charming; — felt the 
invigorating influence, but hastened on to the great battle- 
field of souls, — Nottingham. It is best to work while the 
day lasts, — intimations are afloat, that some uneasiness 
exists in the Wesleyan Conference, as to where all my 
movements are likely to end, in its efl*ects upon the peace 
and unity of the Wesleyan body ; — why, I cannot tell ; — 
why the conversion of scores and hundreds of sinners should 
endanger such things, I cannot divine ; — unless it happen 
to create feelings that ought not to exist, in the bosom of 
the priesthood itself. We shall see. 



144 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

SUDDEN DEATHS. 

Nottingham^ June 3. — The following letters are worthy 
a place in my Journal. The first is from an excellent 
leader in Birmingham ; — one who took a deep interest in 
the late revival there, and laboured heartily for Christ and 
souls. 

« Birmingham, May 25, 1846, 
Rev. James Caughey. 
My dear Friend : 

I rejoice to hear that the Lord is giving you the desire 
of your heart in Nottingham ; we continue to remember 
you at the throne of grace in Birmingham^ and our desire 
is that your bodily health may be continued, as well as 
your spiritual, prosperity. 

Delighted as I am to communicate with you either in 
person, or by letter, yet from a sense of propriety, I should 
deny myself that pleasure, had I not a fact to communicate 
in connexion with your labours, which I am sure will 
gladden your heart, and add one more to the thousand 
proofs you already have, that the God whom you love and 
serve, will not leave himself without a witness, nor his 
servants without souls for their hire. 

Yesterday, Mr. Lawton met my class for tickets, and 
the deep tone of piety was felt by all. After Mr. L. had 
spoken to several members, he came to brother R. W., who 
arose, and bursting into tears, apologized for his absence 
from class the previous Sabbath, in consequence of a sud- 
den death in his family. 

Allow me however to premise, that this R. W. was 
convinced under your preaching, the second Sabbath of 
your services in Belmont BoWy and joined my class ; and 



SUDDEN DEATHS. 145 

before the close of that week, the Lord spoke peace to his 
soul ; since which period he never missed a class, till the 
Sabbath referred to. He has ventured to pray in- class 
openly, in very expressive and impressive sentences. 

Well, under the influence of that religion of which he 
had so lately become the possessor, he has been instru- 
mental in bringing his wife and son into church fellowship ; 
his wife is happy in the love of God. He has commenced 
- family prayer, and reading the Scriptures upon his knees ; 
and most blessed of all, he was the means of bringing his 
wife's mother^ to hear your last two sermons at Belmont 
Roiv ; and though she had lived to sixty-five years in 
almost heathen darkness, as regarded spiritual religion, 
yet light broke in upon her mind; she went home a 
wretched sinner, and on the second night was led to the 
only hope of the sinner, and thus united with her daughter 
and son-in-law, in praising a sin-pardoning God. She 
lived most consistently one months and on Saturday was 
in the act of ofl'ering up the sacrifice of morning prayer, 
when she suddenly fell back, was carried up to bed, and 
expired, only once repeating the name of Jesus! He 
related the event to the class, stating that actually she 
seemed to depart pronouncing the name of Jesus. The 
effect upon the class was powerful, and caused a silence of 
several moments. 

With the liveliest sentiments of Christian love, I am. 
Rev. and dear sir, yours gratefully, 

R. F. Sturges." 

^h ^h ^h n^ ^ ^ 

" Snienton, May 30, 1846. 
Dear Sir : 
I write to inform you that Mr. D. of B.,* an un- 



* Name and place are given in full, which I suppress, as this note may 
be printed with my Journal. J. C. 

13 



146 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

godly man, heard you preach last Tuesday week. He 
went home on Wednesday^ and after a few hours' illness 
expired. He intended coming to hear you again to-mor- 
row week, but alas ! he is gone, and I am sorry to add, as 
he lived he died. 

Yours affectionately, 

T. H — r 

Another note gives the melancholy intelligence of the 
sudden death of another of my hearers. The writer says : 
'' I have received a letter this afternoon from a friend at 
M., from which I take the liberty of making the following 
extract : ' Last Sunday a gentleman from M. went to hear 
Mr. Caughey's morning sermon, and this morning was 
found dead in bed.' Whether he was a changed character, 
my informant does not state ; but he had borne a dreadful 
character for some time. Pardon this intrusion, and allow 
me to remain your most obedient servant, 

J. M." 

Such sad events nerve my soul anew for the effort of 
sinner-awahening^ and soul-converting preaching ! how 
many has Death snatched away thus from under my min- 
istry ! — teaching me, as by a voice from eternity, to he faith- 
ful and pointed as possible, in every sermon, seeing that 
some may be hearing their last sermon^ or / may be 
preaching my last sermon. Ah ! how little do critics and 
formalists and fault-finders know what tremendous events 
are pending, during an alarming delivery of the Gospel 
message! However, when I feel the power of God, and 
hear the sound of my Master s feet behind me, I am 
usually very regardless of the opinions of man ! 



PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 147 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 

June 4. — The work of God, in Nottingham^ has broken 
out afresh ; so here I am to remain several days yet. 

Calvary ! Calvary ! How that word thrills an audience, 
and calls up the crucifixion scenes ! Calvary ! Oh, a ser- 
mon without it, or that which it represents, is like a sky 
without the sun, cloudy^ — dreary^ — dark. Calvary ! it is 
to us, at this time, what the pillar of cloud and fire was 
to the Israelites in the wilderness ; — a cheering guide by 
day and by night ; — a divine intimation to go forward, or 
to stand still and see the salvation of our God ; — a Wes- 
leyan minister speaks of it thus : — 

" Calvary ! on thy memorable height, 

Extremes were press'd to their extremity ; 
Zion and Sinai now in thee unite ! 

The arms of God and of his enemy 
On thy embattled top claim victory. 

On thy brief round, the characters of things 
And fates of this vast universe, we see 

In truth's clear hues ; " 

To hearken to the thunder of God's law and threaten- 
ing a rolling from Sinai to Calvary ; — we all around Cal- 
vary ; — and to see the holts of divine justice flying towards 
us, but strongly bent on approaching Calvary, and all 
lodged in the rent and torn heart of the expiring Son of 
God! 

To behold the river of human guilty rising in the garden 
af Eden ; — but unlike the river which watered and beau- 
tified Eden, it has never disappeared^ nor been lost^ Gen. 
2 : 10, but has rolled on visibly through all ages and dis- 
pensations. Patriarchal, Mosaical, Prophetical, and Pa- 



148 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH, 

gan; — to behold it, rolling onward to Sinai, and from 
thence to Calvary, accumulating^ like other rivers, till it 
pours down in one tremendous cataract upon the innocent 
head of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world ! — Oh, but the effect upon an audience is indescriba- 
ble ! Ah ! but it might well make us tremble ^ while we 
rejoiced in the triumph of redeeming love ! " Oh, how he 
loves /" was the language of many a broken heart, and 
weeping eye ; — and the long-drawn breathy and heavy sob^ 
telling plainly enough, 

" If thou hadst bid thy thunders roll, 
And lightnings flash to blast my soul, 

I still had stubborn been : 
But merc^ has my heart subdued, 
A bleeding Saviour I have view'd, 

And now I hate my sin !" 

June 5. — It is possible to be a very inoffensive preacher^ 
neither damaging the interests of the Devil^ nor Carnality, 
nor one's own interests with the worldly wise. 

Ah me ! — must have more power. Beware, my soul, 
of the smihs of the world ! — or they will soon melt the 
point off thy sharpest arroivs ; — the edge off thy keenest 
weapons. my God, have mercy upon me, and save me 
from this ! Back ! my soul ! back to secret prayer, and 
point and temper thy arrows and weapons of war, afresh 
in the word and mind and will of God ! But mark, the 
sharpest arrows of truth effect nothing, if misdirected^ or 
not directed at all^ or without energy ^ or from a slack 
string^ — a slack soul. Then what was once said of a harm- 
less wity may be said of J. C, the harmless preacher^ — 
" His arrows were placed with the point downward, — at- 
tracting ally and woundirig nobody ;'' — a rare and valuable 
accomplishment that, in a wit, I confess, but a ruinous ac- 
quirement for mCy and high treason against the royalty 
of truth ; — better be in my coffin. 



PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 149 

The fajnous John Nelson visited this town about one 
hundred years ago. Poor John ! The world had no smiles 
for him ! Two nights of his style of preaching surrounded 
him with a raging moh^ who threatened to pull the house 
to the ground ! He was seized by a constable for raising 
a riot, when it was the ungodly themselves who did it; — 
hurried him away to a justice of the peace, followed by a 
shouting, cursing, huzzaing mob ; — John all the while 
preaching to all around him ; — his soul a holy flame of 
fire ; and they were glad to let him go ! I must walk 
close with God, and my spiritual weapons sharp-edged^ or 
God may have to temper them for me in some such fire as 
encompassed Nelson ; — he will, in that or aome other fire, 
if I ever allow the warm smiles of the world to melt off the 
edge from the weapons of my warfare. Be alarmed, my 
soul! thy namesake James declares, (^^^ The friendship of 
the ivorld is enmity with Crod^'' James 4 : 4 — enough to 
make one tremble before God ! 

June 6. Saturday morning. — Text last night, Mark 
11 : 24. This is the great key that opens the treasury of 
Heaven. It is also a charter that lays all the promises of 
God under contribution. ^^Therefore I say unto you^ what 
things soever ye desire when ye pray^ believe that ye receive 
them, and ye shall have them.'' This is really to bind 
Himself to fulfil the askings of faith ; — it is, as Dr. Harris 
observes, '^ to resign voluntarily the sceptre into the hand 
of faith; — even at the tremendous risk of seeing us erase 
from our creed the doctrine of his absolute liberty ; — irre- 
vocably binding himself to fulfil the requests of faith with- 
out the possibility of a refusal ; — He throws up the high 
prerogative, and brings himself under obligation.'' Many 
realized the truth of the sentiment. 

There was a fine opportunity to attack unbelief in one 
of its entrenchments, — Presumption ; — '' It would be pre- 
sumption in me to believe in the absence of the evidence 



150 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

of feeling,'' Presumption to do what Jesus bids you ! 
^' Believe that ye receive," — not feel that ye receive. Be- 
lieve that ye receive^ first, and then ye shall feelj is evi- 
dently Christ's order. .0 
But what is Presumption ? "It is confidence without 
ground.'' Very well. But has confidence no ground for 
relieving that it does receive, in the absence of feeling ? 
Does not this promise afi'ord the necessary ground ? Can 
there be any lack of ground of confidence, when one does 
just what Jesus has expressly commanded ? Here, I think, 
is the very strongest ground imaginable ; — and never 
ground better defined. It is only to trust the veracity of 
Jesus, firmly — unwaveringly — obstinately : — like Abraham 
of old, '^ strong in faitJi^ giving glory to Grod ; — staggering 
not at the promise^ through unbelief," It was great pre- 
sumption in Peter, was it not, to step out of the boat and 
attempt to run upon the surface of the water to meet Jesus ? 
Unbelief would have said so. But Jesus had said, " Come," 
That was enough for Peter. He surrendered his under- 
standing to the will of his Lord. His understanding tohl 
him, that at the first step upon the surface of that sea, he 
would go down. But Jesus had said " Come;" and that 
was enough. He could trust that, if he could not trust the 
fickle and yielding and devouring element upon which he 
was about to tread ;— -so out he went ; — ay ! and, says one, 
'' down he went," with a cry, " Lord save me ;" ay ! and 
that saved him, for Jesus was by his side in a moment, 
and, stretching forth his hand, caught him, and said, "0 
thou of little faithj wherefore didst thou doubt ?" Not 
wherefore didst thou do ity — as I once understood it when 
a boy, when hearing a man from the Highlands of Scot- 
land read it, in family devotion. " thou of little faith, 
wherefore didst thou dootl"— his way of pronouncing 
"doubt;" and I got the idea Peter was being chided for 
doing it, for attempting to walk upon the water, — '' why 



PROGRESS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM. 151 

didst thou do it?'' and most likely I thought he deserved 
such a rebuke for his presumption ; but it was " wherefore 
didst thou doiibt T' It was the Highlander's had pronun- 
ciation that set me all wrong ! 

Oh ! many felt that true faith is nothing more nor less 
than a surrender of the understanding to the decision of 
God ! That though, like Peter, we may look at the waves 
land motion of the winds, and iBnd them too much for our 
faith ; — yet looking unto Jesus, praying and believing, we 
find we have his Oome^ in his command, ^' Believe that ye 
receive^'' for as sure a ground of confidence as ever Peter 
had ; and, as a German divine remarked, " though the 
PROMISE may appear like the broken moonbeams upon the 
surface of a stormy ocean, though in itself solid as marble ; — 
but venturing out upon it, we shall find it even so, — solid 
as marble, and sure as the veracity of Christ can make it/* 
what a move ! — what an entire venturing upon the vera- 
city of Jesus among the people ; and not in vain ; for he 
saved many of them to the uttermost. 

I did not think of writing so much ; but I hardly know 
where to stop, when I begin to write upon the faithfulness 
of my Lord, and the triumphs of faith. 

June 8. — Mounted some heavy ordnance on our spiritual 
batteries last night, and the execution was terrible. Many 
a poor sinner, like the Jailor of Philippi, begged for 
quarter, with the cry, ^' What shall I do to be saved?'' 

It is wonderful, as a Revival advances, how the power 
to difiuse light and heat by the Gospel, increases in one's 
soul ! This is my experience. There is much in that 
hint of Jesus, ^' To him that hath shall be given ;" — that is, 
to him who improves upon what he has, — uses the gifts of 
God to the uttermost, more shall be given ; so that if he 
use all to the glory of God, there need be no fear of a 
decrease oi power. 

There is another matter of marvel : how much both of 



152 THE TRIUMPH OF TKUTH. 

light and heat, can ''stated hearers'' bear, without being 
much affected by it. However, the truth affects and burns 
all classes now. Hallelujah ! 

Received the following note from an excellent Greek 
scholar: — 

" Rev. and Dear Sir : 

Your remarks upon the tenses of your last night's text, 
[Mark 11 : 24] led me to consult the original this morn- 
ing, when it struck me that the verb 'cZmr^' Would have 
more accurately represented the original, if rendered 
'ask/ The verb ati-fw certainly signifies to ask, or to ask 
for ; and seems as if it could bear the sense ^o desire by 
implication only, except where the verb to desire is used 
synonymously with to ask, as is frequently the case, and 
as was intended, most probably, by our translators in so 
rendering it in the text. 

If I mistake not, the verb in question occurs under one 
or other of its inflections sixty-four times in the New Tes- 
tament. It is once rendered 'called /or,' evidently in 
the authoritative sense oi 'asked; [Acts 16: 29.] It is 
twice rendered 'to require.' [Luke 23 : 53, and 1 Oor. 1 : 
22.] Twice it is rendered 'begged,' [Matt. 27: 68, and 
Luke 23 : 52.] It is represented by our verb to desire, 
seventeen times ; and by to ask, forty-two times. Of the 
seventeen instances in which it is rendered by our verb to 
desire, there is only one in which it seems to be applied to 
the operations of the mind, and where indeed it may not 
improbably have a reference to prayer about the subject 
named. [Acts 7 : 46.] I think, therefore, the literal read- 
ing of the text is thus, " On this account I sag unto you, 
all things whatsoever ye may ask [subjunctive mood] 
praying, believe that ye receive : and they shall be to you.' 
The asking is contingent, therefore future, the promise 
must of necessity be future also ; else the promise would 



PROGKESS OF THE REVIVAL IX NOTTINGHAM. 153 

have to talce effect before the performance of the contin- 
gent condition; — when ye pray then believe: — pray in 
/aiYA.'-and while ye pray and believe what you ask is 
given, the things asked for are yours. Hallelujah ! I 
believe it ! This accords with your exposition. And the 
several distinctions you drew perfectly accord with my 
own experience. 

I should be sorry for my remarks on the verb at^fw to 
damage the ships on their voyage homeward. And I don't 
think they need, for you may waft the full-rigged vessel 
along by an implieatory wind, which will only be a varia- 
tion in the points from which it blows, and will make no 
difference in its effects. 

Will you forgive the liberty I have taken? I don't 
think I should have ventured it, had I not been rather 
closely studying Greek for several years, which makes me 
feel a much greater interest in anything philological than 
I otherwise should. I wish I could induce you to come 
and take tea and spend an hour with me and my family, 
either on Monday, or some other day next week. 

With the heartiest feeling, I am. Rev. and dear sir, 
affectionately, yours, William B. Carter. 

Nottingham^ June 6, 1846.'' 

I forgot when remarking upon last Friday night's ser- 
mon, to notice, that I had been somewhat critical on the 
G-reeh tenses ; — things I seldom trouble an audience with ; 
but upon a subject of so much importance as believing be- 
fore receiving^ I felt justified. And if no other benefit 
accrued, the calling forth of the above valuable letter from 
Mr. Carter J is sufficient. 

The work is advancing with astonishing rapidity ; — over 
fifteen hundred souls saved, in Pardon and Purity^ within 
the last month ! Praise the Lord, my soul ! 



154 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

FARTHER VIEW OF THE WORK OF GOD IN NOTTINGHAM. 

From the closing remarks of Mr. C. in the last chapter, 
it will be perceived, that this great work of God in N. 
increased in momentum as it advanced. The following 
from a Religious Journal [London], affords a farther view 
of the work : — 

a Nottingham, North Circuit. — The good work of 
the Lord continues to go on amongst us in this town with 
unparalleled vigour and power. The interest excited by 
the labours of Mr. Caughey, so far from diminishing, 
increases daily. Those delightful records of Apostolic 
labour and success found in the Acts of the Apostles, are 
peculiarly applicable to us at this time: ' Multitudes are 
being added to the Church daily'—' believers are the more 
established in the faith.' The sinners in Zion no longer 
lie in the unbroken, undisturbed torpor of spiritual death ; 
fearfulness and trembling have seized them. Last Sab- 
bath was ' a day of the Son of Man with power ;' upwards 
of two hundred and fifty gave their names as receiving 
some special good. The preaching of Mr. Caughey re- 
minds us of that of John the Baptist, whose deep tones 
rang through the wilderness of Judea, and fell upon the 
ears of the astonished multitudes — ' Repent ye, for the 
kingdom of God is at hand.' As in his day, to rouse to 
a spiritual concern, no ordinary style was required— as it 
has been said of John, so it may be said with propriety 
of Mr. Caughey : ' The spirit of Elias burns in his breast, 
his power thunders in his voice.' That there should be 
occasionally something of what the world would designate 
confusion, must be expected ; but it is a confusion which 



FARTnER VIEW OF THE WORK IN NOTTINGHAM. 155 

perfectly harmonizes with the feelings of that man who 
can 

* Wrestle for the ruin'd race, 
By sin eternally undone.' 

We are looking upon the work itself, not as final, but as 
the foundation of a yet more extensive revival. The pro- 
found awakening, the manifest quickening into spiritual 
life, by the piety and faith of God's people, will, we doubt 
not, be sustained and advanced. The amount of good 
already effected by the labours of this extraordinary man, 
will never be fully ascertained until the full lights of eter- 
nity shall reveal it. That partially neglected doctrine, 
^sanctification,' the glory and bulwark of Methodism, has 
been prominently held forth, and many have risen and 
testified that ' the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from 
all sin.' The labours of Mr. Caughey are about to ter- 
minate here. Next Friday evening he takes his leave of 
us. His unobtrusive piety, his manifest sincerity, his zeal 
for his God, his love for the souls of men, his labours, his 
goings in and out amongst us, have endeared him to the 
hearts of the people ; and, although there are a few who 
have stood aloof from the work, and have felt in their 
hearts something of what some of the disciples of our 
Lord felt, ' Master, we saw a man casting out devils in 
thy name, and we forbad him,' yet he will go away from 
Nottingham with many a benediction upon his head. We 
know not whether the sphere of his devoted labours will, 
for a time, be circumscribed within the limits of our ' sea- 
girt isle,' or whether the wave of the ' deep Atlantic' is 
about to bear him away ; but his name in Nottingham will 
be <as ointment poured forth,' and many, Mn the day of 
the Lord, will be the crown of his rejoicing.' Then human 
character and conduct will be duly appreciated ; while 
from the lips of the < great God and our Saviour' is heard 



156 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

the emphatic and sublime announcement: — -' They that be 
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and 
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever 
and ever.' '* 



CHAPTER XX. 

CLOSING SCENES IN NOTTINGHAM. 

June 9.— Thinking upon Prov. 15 : 24, <-<> The way of 
life is above to the wise^ that he may depart from Hell be- 
neath.'^ He lives above the world, though in it. His 
heart is lodged in the tree of life, while his feet are fixed 
to the earth. His thoughts are in the altitudes^ while his 
body is in this vale here below ; and, to use an idea of one, 
while others are creeping upon the earth, and almost buried 
in it ; — he is soaring as on the wings of Isaiah's eagle, — or 
runs without being weary, or walks without being faint. 

•t* 'T* 't* l^ 

Have enjoyed a sweet walk. How sweet to feel the 
pulse of the soul still beating after God ! Had something 
of what a saint of old called, " the sweet balm that falls 
from a Christian heart;" — that was his idea of the effects 
of "meditative thankfulness.'' And how sweet it is! it 
would be about as easy to tell how sweet honey is ! It is 
not exactly Peter's "joy unspeakable, and full of glory ;" 
but is, after all, much akin to the definition of joy^ given 
by a divine in Switzerland; — a vivid perception of one's 
happy condition ! 

June 10. — It is a good knife that cuts easy and well ; 
and a good scythe that mows down the most grass^ with the 
least fatigue to the mower ; and it is a good sermon that 
does most execution among sinners, whether the world 



CLOSING SCENES IN NOTTINGHAM. 157 

thinks so or not ! Sinners are grass^ — that is the idea of 
Scripture, — ''Surely the people are grass;'' — and that 
text, Heb. 2:3,^' Sow shall we escape^ if we neglect so 
great salvation;'' — that discourse on it is a scythe indeed ! 
It mowSj my Lord ! — but only as the Spirit of God sets 
it on. 

Afternoon. — Must have exercise. It is not just to the 
mind, to drive it harder than the body ; and not just to 
the body to drive it faster than the mind ; but both exer- 
cised equally ! — that is the thing for health to soul and 
body ; — Plato's idea was, drive them equally, like two 
horses in a coach, allowing neither of them to overgo the 
other ! 

A great sweep in soul-saving, last effort ! But my en- 
gagements in Lincoln, call me away in a few days. 

To-day I wrote the following reply (with some slight 
alterations) to the letter of a conscientious Lawyer, — a 
member of Lincoln's Inn, London. 

Nottingham^ June 10, 1846. 

To . 

My dear Sir : 

1. I dare not say it is your duty to " abandon'* your 
profession, — the Bar. It is a lawful and honourable em- 
ployment, and highly necessary in the present state of 
society. 

Neither dare I say it is not your duty to accept a 
'^ brief in ''a bad case;" but at the peril of your soul 
you must not try to defeat the ends of justice. You must 
not endeavour to perplex or mislead a jury, by any cun- 
ning or foul attempt to make a bad case appear to be inno- 
cent, or just, or good. 

2. That a guilty party should have one of your profes- 
sion to care for his or their case ; — to see that it is not 
made out worse than it really is, by false, or deceived wit- 

14 



158 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

nesses, or prejudiced enemies, there can be no reasonable 
doubt, not even in the most scrupulous conscience, I should 
imagine ; — for you well know a guilty person may be con- 
demned to suflFer a severer penalty than he deserves ; — -that 
would be injustice ; and it is your duty, as a conscientious 
lawyer, to prevent it, if you can. There may be false or 
too highly-coloured statements^ — or wrong deductions and 
inferences^ to prejudice the case, and call forth, if not a 
wrong verdict, yet certainly a severer sentence than the 
criminal merited. 

3. Thus, Sir, while human nature remains what it isy 
and as it is, the world cannot get on very well without 
gentlemen of your profession. Nevertheless, the wiser and 
more conscientious they are, the safer and better both for 
the guilty and for the innocent ; — for the plaintiff , and for 
the defendant ; and indeed for community in general. 

4. You have a diflScult world to grapple with. Sir ; but 
remember you have a soul to save, and that there is an- 
other tribunal before which you yourself must certainly 
one day appear, to give an account of yourself to God. 

5. Having said thus much, Sir, I must leave you to 
decide upon your future course (as to your profession)^ as 
your interests, or conscience, or judgment may direct. 

6. Should you permit yourself to be influenced strictly 
by these few brief hints, it may possibly "lessen your 
practice," and decrease somewhat the number of your 
"briefs," and consequent income ; but you shall have what 
will be far better, the testimony of an approving conscience, 
the approval of your God, the respect of the wise and the 
good, and the observing ; and what is worth more than 
rubies, self -respect. And, depend upon it, you will be no 
loser, in the long run ! Your honest and upright course 
will raise you friends worth having. Depression may await 
you for awhile, yet you will not remain in obscurity or 
unnoticed. The mighty hand of God will make way for 



CLOSING SCENES IN NOTTINGHAM. 159 

you, — to live^ love^ and serve your generation, the cause 
of justice, and your God, who will hereafter make you 
happy, with himself for ever, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

Yours affectionately, J. C. 

June 11. — A glorious text. Acts 15 : 9, <« And put no 
difference between us and them purifying their hearts ly 
faith.'' Explained and applied the doctrine of faith, by 
that capital promise of Christ, ''What things soever ye 
desire when ye pray^ believe that ye receive them, and ye 
shall have them.'' One of the exceeding great and pre- 
cious promises of God, of which the Apostle speaks, 
whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature, having 
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 
Peter 1 : 4. Lust, — unholy and irregular desires ; — so 
our Lord placed desire in the promise, as an antagonist to 
destructive desires; — the phrase, "having escaped the 
corruption'' — implies energy of action; — illustrative of 
Augustine's idea, that a speedy flight to Christ, is the only 
way to escape besetting corruption. 

That idea of an old poet, is a good rallying point : 

^^ Affections are the sails of the mind." 

It was from him, probably, an old writer caught the idea, 
some two centuries ago, ''Desires are the sails of the 
mind ;" — for how little difference there is between desire 
and affection ! But "desire" in the sense our Lord used 
it, in association with prayer, is more expressive. 

Desires, as the sails of the mind, was a moving idea ; — 
a watchword of power — hoisting sail — unfurling sail — 
shaking them loose to the heavenly breeze, became words 
of power. Laboured with might to unfurl the sails of 
every vessel of mercy, throughout our spiritual fleet ; — • 



160 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

and it was immense^ — ^bound for the port of Holiness as 
well as Heaven ! 

There was a great ''cry in the shipSj^ loud, I venture 
to say, as that of Isaiah's Chaldean mariners^ Is. 43 : 14. 
But, alas! the tackling of some were ''loosed;'''' they 
could not tvell strengthen the mast ; — they could not spread 
the sail ; Isaiah 33: 23, when " the prey of a great spoil 
was divided;" — when even "the lame^" were enabled to 
" take the prey !" But these failed, because they failed to 
strengthen the mast of resolution, and to spread the sails 
of the desires. However, very many were fully prepared 
for such tactics in spiritual seamanship, and performed 
them gloriously ; and surely, if ever the breezes blew from 
Calvary, wafting souls into full salvation, they did then ! 
Hallelujah ! 

June 12. — The meeting for the New Converts was an ex- 
traordinary scene ! — to behold such a vast concourse of 
mind, lately on the way to Hell, now happy in the love of 
God, and ^'in full sail for Heaven," was a blessed sight. 
who could behold with dry eyes, or an unmoved heart ! 

June 13. — Last night I bade the weeping multitude /ar^- 
well. It was a tender, moving time ; — more than one thou- 
sand new converts were present ; together with hundreds 
of believers who had obtained full salvation. My own 
feelings were inexpressible — 

"0 the fathomless love, that has deign*d to approve 
And prosper the work of my hands ! 
With my pastoral crook I went over the brook, 
And, behold I am spread into bands ! 

Who, I ask in amaze, hath begotten me these ? 

And inquire from what quarter they came ? 
My full heart it replies, they are borne from the skies, 

And gives glory to God and the Lamb. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 



CLOSING SCENES IN NOTTINGHAM. 161 

Gho%t for such a work, — which only the Omnipotent God 
could perform. 

It was with the greatest difficulty I could escape from 
their overwhelming manifestations of affection ; hut an 
interference of the brethren, set me at liberty. Such a 
work of God as this, in so short a time, I have never 
before witnessed. It has been, indeed, — one of the great 
spring tides of the Spirit ; — the like of which one may 
never see again, unless viewed from our position in eter- 
nity, in the future triumphs of Emmanuel. 

But am I doing right in leaving such a work, so soon, 
and so suddenly ? But Lincoln must not be disappointed ; 
— other places also must be visited ; — ^must work while the 
day lasts^ — the night cometh. 

According to the Register BooJc, fourteen hundred and 
twelve persons have professed to receive justification^ 
through faith in Christ ; and five hundred and fifty -three 
souls, the blessing of sanctification^ hy faith ; Rom. 5:1; 
Acts, 26 : 18 ; — and in so short a time, from May 10th to 
June 12th, — not quite five weeks. But why should it not 
have been accomplished in a short time, if the people were 
willing to be saved ? seeing that it is written we are justi- 
fied by faith, and sanctified hy faith ; and that God him- 
self saith, '' Behold, NOW is the accepted time ; Behold, 
NOW is the day of salvation!'' how I delight to re- 
peat, <' To a Trinity in Unity, who sweetly all agree, to 
save a world of sinners lost," be all glory, honour, and 
praise, through Him who died on Calvary, world without 
end. Amen ! Glory in the highest ! 



14^ 



162 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

OFFICIAL STATISTICS OF THE REVIVAL IN NOTTINGHAM.^ ^ 

The following letter,* which appeared soon after in a 
religious Journal, — '('The Wesley an^' will, we trust, be 
interesting to the reader. 

Mr. C. has remarked in his Journal^ in what a business- 
like manner the officials of Nottingham Methodism, took 
note of the Revival^ and care of the New Converts, and 
others, who were the subjects of the higher state of grace, 
— entire holiness. 

MR. CAUGHEY'S labours AT NOTTINGHAM. 

Many, through ignorance, and others, (even amongst 
sincere Methodists), from prejudice, have spoken dispara- 
gingly of those gracious visitations of the '' Spirit from on 
high," familiarly termed " Revivals," and have misquoted 
and misrepresented the numbers who have received spiri- 
tual good at these periods ; and much scepticism still 
exists, even in the ^' high places," and amongst the so- 
called '' oracles" of Methodism, as to the genuineness and 
permanency of those extraordinary revivals which modern 
Methodism has been privileged to witness. 

In order, however, that the means of arriving at a sound 
judgment may not be wanting, — that the honour may be 
given to whom it is due, — I subjoin a numerical summary 
of the results of the extraordinary work of God we have 
recently witnessed during the special services held at the 
Wesley Chapel, Nottingham North Circuit, held by the 
Rev. James Caughey, from May 10 to June 12, 1846. The 

* Written by Mr. George Day, a talented and highly esteemed Local 
Preacher y son-in-law of my excellent host, Mr. Sansom. The writer of 
the letter has since ascended into Heaven. J. G. 



OFFICIAL STATISTICS. 163 

question of the genuineness of the work here may be con- 
sidered as established by the highest and best authority — 
our circuit quarter-day having, in the presence and with 
the sanction of the superintendent preacher, passed unani- 
mous resolutions to that effect. 

With reference to the manner in which the revival ser- 
vices have been conducted, I can confidently state, that 
they have been marked by such a degree of order, method, 
and decorum, as not to offend t-he most fastidious of our 
own church. As, however, a mere declaration cannot be 
expected to carry conviction far from the scene of action, 
I have carefully extracted from the books of the secretary, 
specimens of the forms used during the special services, 
and hope, for the sake of revivals and Methodism (whose 
advocate you are), their insertion in your Journal. Great 
importance may be attached to these, less for the sake of 
dissipating the interested and cherished doubts of those 
who regard the recent revivals as composed of counterfeit 
conversions, produced by appeals to the passions and 
animal excitement only, than as being absolutely neces- 
sary (or at least, something equally methodical) for the 
guidance oof circuits which may hereafter be blessed with 
revivals under the instrumentality of Mr. Caughey or any 
other equally successful Methodist minister. 

As to the importance of this or a similar plan of systema- 
tizing the operations of a revival, any person employed in 
this manner must acknowledge that numbers of new con- 
verts have ''measured back their steps to earth again," 
to the sorrow of the lovers of Zion's prosperity, and the 
exultation of scoffers — solely for want of that early atten- 
tion to their cases, by appointed and suitable leaders, 
which could not be bestowed and paid, because no judi- 
cious method had been observed of entering the names of 
converts and their immediate appointment to classes. 

A few explanations are affixed to the forms ; but, if 



164 



THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 



further communication is desired, a letter 
addressed A. B., care of the Superintend- 
ent of Nottingham North Circuit, will 
have immediate attention. 

Correspondent. 

The number of names taken during 
Mr. Caughey's visit, from May 10th to 
June 12th, of individuals having received 
the blessing of justification or sanctifica- 
tion, is one thousand nine hundred and 
sixty-five. These are accounted for as 
follows : — 



1 




i 
g 


m 

s ° 






1— 1 






CO 

o 

00 


In the Church, 

been living 
without bless- 
ing of pardon. 


CO 


From the world 
and appointed 
to our own So- 
ciety (Wesley). 




lit 

S5 o 




•gs 
lis 

Hi 





The following Tables are specimens of those used by the 
Leaders' Meeting of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, at 
Wesley Chapel (Nottingham North Circuit), during the 
recent revival of the work of God there, under the instru- 
mentality of the Rev. James Caughey, between May 10 and 
June 12, 1846, during which period 1965 persons professed 
*:* have obtained either justification or entire sanctification. 



OFFICIAL STATISTICS. 



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GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS. 169 

CHAPTER XXII. 

GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS. 

[Saturday morning.] Nottingham, June 13, 1846. 
I HAVE much to write, my friend ; — so much, and so 
little time, before I leave for Lincoln^ that a selection is 
difficult, 

1. Well, my work in Nottingham is ended for the pre- 
sent. Preached my farewell last night ; — a tender, moving 
time it was. Nearly two thousand souls have been saved, 
in both blessings^ the last five weeks. 

It has been a great and mighty work of God ; — it burst 
forth as a flame ^ instantly, without any of those laborious 
efforts which have characterized my revival movements 
elsewhere. The heavens were bowed at once, and the 
great and mighty God poured out his Spirit from on 
high ! — Surely it was the Lord's doings, and marvellous in 
our eyes. 

The word of the Lord, to use an idea of Luther, became 
at once a sword, — a war, — a destruction to the works of 
the Devil ; — and the people were willing to have it so ; — 
it fell upon the children of Ephraim, — sinners in Zion, and 
out of Zion, as a lion out of the forests ! Immediately 
signs and wonders followed ; — reminding one of that re- 
mark of Mr. Wesley, concerning Nottingham, in his Jour- 
nal, March 23, 1766, " There seems to be now [what 
never was before] a general call to the town " 

2. I have had a most agreeable home in >.he pleasant 
mansion of Mr, Sansom. He and Mrs. S., and their 
lovely family, vied with each other in their affectionate 
attentions. I hope to welcome them into everlasting habi- 
tations, as they welcomed me into their happy habitation 
here below. God bless them ! 

15 



170 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTla. 

3. The Rev, Bernard Slater^ Superintendent^ and the 
Rev. John Vine^ his colleague, showed me much kind- 
ness, — allowed me perfect liberty to carry out my plans, 
and threw their own energies into the work ; and so did 
the Leaders, — a glorious band of talented and zealous 
men. The membership also took a delighted interest in 
the work. The people generally acknowledged *' the fin- 
ger of Grod'' directing the amazing scenes, and bowed 
themselves at length under the mighty power of his hand. 
God bless Nottingham and her people^ for ever and ever ! 
Amen. 

Mr. Wesley had ever a very strong affection for the 
people of Nottingham ; — equal, one would think, to Paul's 
love to the church at Philippic or to the church at Thes- 
salonica, — two of his model churches. In his Journal of 
June 18, 1777, he says, " I preached at Nottingham to a 
serious, loving congregation. There is something in the 
people of this town which I cannot but much approve of; 
although most of our society are of the lower class, chiefly 
employed in the stocking manufacture, yet there is gene- 
rally an uncommon gentleness and siveetness in their tem- 
per, and something of elegance in their behaviour, which, 
when added to solid, vital religion, make them an orna- 
ment to their profession." A few years after, in parting 
with them, he records his feelings thus : ^' Farewell, ye 
loving, lovely followers of the Lamb ! May ye still adorn 
the doctrine of God your Saviour!" Indeed, his opinion 
of them had not changed late as 1786, nor did it ever 
change, I believe. July 6, of that year, he writes, ^' I 
love this people : there is something wonderfully pleasing, 
both in their spirit and their behaviour." And now, in 
1846, they seem to be much about the same ! If Mr. 
Wesley were alive now, and here, he would find as much 
to love and admire among them as ever ! 



GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS. 171 

4. The New Converts — how tender, — how intense, — 
how boundless seems to be their affection ! 

If faithful^ these afiections will be permanent ; but if 
unfaithful, they may possibly go to the other extreme ; — 
the G-alatian converts, for an example. St. Paul, once 
their spiritual father, bore them record, that such was 
their affection for him at a certain time, that if it had 
been possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes^ 
and have given them to him. But alas ! many of them 
backslid in heart, in life, and in doctrine ; and poor broken- 
hearted sorrowing Paul was forced to inquire of them 
mournfully, " Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? — 
am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the 
truth f Gal. 4 : 15, 16. Ay ! and the possibility of such 
an event following a revival in our day, ought to be quite 
sufficient to prevent pride from spreading its feathers ; 
and to make us rejoice with trembling^ and, as one observed, 
sound our trumpets of victory in the valley of humility ! 

Nottingham, June 13, 1846. 

ilp. Up. -^ Up. T^ 

In company with a select party of Nottingham friends, 
I visited the other day Newstead Abbey^ once the seat of 
the Byron family, and for a number of years the residence 
of the poet Byron. 

The day was beautiful, and I enjoyed the ride and visit 
much. The mansion stands in what was once the very 
heart of old " Sherwood Forest^'' once the haunt of a 
notorious gang of outlaws, commanded by the famous Ro- 
bin Hood. It was originally a Priory, inhabited by monks, 
and built some six hundred years ago ; — built by Henry 
II., to expiate, it is said, the crime of the murder of Tho- 
mas a Becket. When the monasteries were dissolved, by 
Henry VIII., Sir John Byron received a royal grant of it. 



172 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

This Sir John figures largely in the ghost stories and tradi- 
tions of the abbey, — as '' Sir John Byron ^ the little man 
with the great beard." About the middle of last century, he 
who was called " The wicked Lord Byron/' came into the 
possession of it. He was the grand-uncle of the poet, — 
once committed to the Tower in London for the murder of 
a kinsman in a duel, was tried, — died in 1798, at which 
time the abbey passed into the hands of the poet, then a 
boy of eleven years of age. The jpoet was greatly attached 
to the place, and used to say, " Come what will, Newstead 
and I must stand or fall together;" but Newstead fell be- 
fore him, — that is, fell into other hands by sale. Colonel 
Wildman^ the present proprietor, was the purchaser. He 
is a great admirer of Byron the poet, and carefully pre- 
serves every monument and memorial of him and the Byron 
family. We were kindly admitted to walk where we 
pleased through the house ; — the haunted room, of course, 
where the headless monk is often seen, as is asserted ; and 
the poet's bedroom^ — as he left it ; and the celebrated 
skull, which was present at many a carousal, and upon 
which the poet wrote those famous lines : — 

" Remove yon skull from out the scatter'd heaps: 

Is that a temple where a god may dwell? 
Why, ev'n the worm at last disdains her shatter'd cell ! 

Look on its broken arch, its ruin'd wall, 
Its chambers desolate, and portals foul : 
Yes, this was once ambition's airy hall, 
The dome of thought, the palace of the soul ; 
Behold through each lacklustre, eyeless hole 
The gay recess of wisdom and of wit, 
And passion's port, that never brook'd control ; 
Can all saint, sage, or sophist ever writ. 
People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?" 

We enjoyed a pleasant ramble around the lake in front 
of the Abbey, — a small sheet of water, formed, it is said, 



GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS. 173 

by the monks damming up the course of a small river. 
Upon this lake the poet took recreation, in sailing, swim- 
ming, and poetizing. His own description of it forms a 
pretty picture : — 

*» Before the mansion lay a placid lake 

Broad as transparent, deep and freshly fed 
By a river, which its softened way did take 

In currents through the calmer water spread 
Around. The wild-fowl nestled in the brake 

And sedges, brooding in their liquid bed : 
The woods sloped downward to its brink, and stood 

With their green faces fixed upon the flood." 

We lingered awhile at the poet's tomb^ in the neighbour- 
ing church ; — how suggestive of serious reflections ! and 
then hastened back to Nottingham. 

Nottingham, June 13, 1846. 

Yes ! I suffered a loss of about c£200 sterling. It was 
borrowed from me while in Corh^ Ireland, a few months 
after my arrival from America, by a prominent Methodist, 
who seemed to be well to do in the world. I had been 
entertained a few weeks in his house ; and had all confi- 
dence in his integrity ; — suspecting nothing, I lent him a 
large portion of my funds which I had to defray my trav- 
elling expenses. But all is lost; he has failed in many 
thousand pounds sterling ; and not a copper to meet it. I 
was thoroughly deceived, that is all. 

The loss does not embarrass me at all; I am in no 
want; nor likely to be ; but it was calculated to affect one 
somewhat disagreeably. 

I received the evil tidings a week or ten days ago ; and 
walked out to meditate and pray. St. Paul says, we have 
this treasure in earthen vessels ; — the Gospel treasure, and 
the call to preach it. I felt it was good to have a treasure 



174 THE TRIUxMPH OF TRUTH. 

within^ which could not be much affected by a loss zvithout. 
An earthen vessel, if set upon a hot fire, and empty, 
would be apt to crack ; but if full of water, it can bear a 
good heat without much danger of cracking ! And thus 
it is with the heart, if filled with "the ivater of life,'* it 
receives no harm from receiving a heating from some fiery 
trial, or other! 

This, however, which might have occasioned me some 
unhappiness, or uneasiness, was, through Divine goodness, 
made the means of a large income of grace tp my soul. 
After receiving the intelligence, I walked to reconsider 
my affairs. In a few moments I was so happy I shouted 
for joy !— like the cripple of old, who was healed at the 
Beautiful gate of the temple, it set me a " walking, and 
leajnng, and praising GrodT' Acts 3: 8. 

What a visitation from on high, it was, surely ! Was 
this anything of what the ancient saints enjoyed, when 
they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in 
THEMSELVES that they had in heaven a letter and an 
enduring substance?'' Heb. 10: 34. The Scriptures 
tell us, that the sun melted and wasted the manna, sent 
down from Heaven to the Israelites in the wilderness. 
Not so fire, — it would not melt it, but they had to go about 
to grind it in mills ! Exod. 16th chapter, and Numbers 
11th chapter. Curious ! Did the Lord design to teach the 
lesson, that the manna of grace, might be melted and 
wasted and destroyed in the sunshine of prosperity ; but 
not in the fires of sanctified afflictions ? The fire of 
adversity gives great solidity ^rvA firmness to one's religion; 
so that like the manna of old, it will bear a considerable 
pounding and grinding, and, somehow, be all the better 
and sweeter for it. 

A shrewd brother once observed, Our souls should re- 
semble the build of ship, — little and narroiv dowmvards, 
but ivide and broad upwards ; — that our affections should 



GATHERING UP THE FRAGMENTS. 175 

be very narrow earthward^ but lai^ge and broad heaven- 
tvard, for the reception of heavenly things ! Blessed be 
God ! it was thus with my soul on the day in question ! 

Wellj this is one of those sudden blasts, which, when 
upon a larger scale, ruin many, and which it is not easy 
to provide against. 

This blast would hardly have affected some of larger 
means, and heavier transactions. It is like a small craft 
encountering and trembling under that which the larger 
vessel would contemn. A small squall will peril a tiny sail, 
as readily as a gale would the heavy and gallant ship ! 

I like that sentiment of one, — that the Christian has 
two growing kinds of goods ; — the goods of the throne, and 
the goods of the footstool ; and that they might be termed 
the immovables and the movables ! A good idea ! Well, 
if some of the goods of the footstool are gone, — the mova- 
bles-: the goods of the throne remain, — the immovables, and 
they are increasing more and more every day, and never 
faster than of late ! I do realize the truth of that pleasing 
observation of a good German divine, that, '^ It is possi- 
ble, even in this world, to gain a footing above it." Yes, 
thank God ! Thus I felt, and thus I feel. Phil. 3 : 20, 21. 
Like yonder oak on the heights, rudely visited by the 
storm, a few of its sheltering leaves and ornamental 
branches blown off, while its rooting remains firm, — quite 
beyond the reach and power of the tempest ! If matters 
went hard with the top, the tree stands upright and nobly, 
— grasping some great rock, perchance, which the roots 
have discovered, and which the vulgar eye never beheld. 
There are sunshine, shower and breeze in plenty above 
and around for the tree ! ay ! and for my soul too, and the 
refreshing shade of the presence of him, who hath said, 
'^ Lo, I am with you alway V Blessed be God ! 

And now I must hasten away to the city of Lincoln, for 
a short time ; thence to Boston, a neighbouring town be- 



176 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

low, on the banks of the same little river, and near to the 
sea. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ARRIVAL IN LINCOLN. 



Mr. C. left Nottingham for the city of Lincoln^ on the 
13th of June, and spent the Sabbath there, and the two 
following weeks. The first Sabbath he spent in Lincoln, 
was thus noticed in a religious periodical : — 

'' Lincoln. — For some time the people of God have 
been praying day and night that his Church might be 
made very holy and useful ; and of late prayer has been 
specially ofi*ered up that the great Head of the Church 
would pour out abundantly of his Spirit upon the congre- 
gations when the Rev. James Caughey visited our ancient 
city. Yesterday, June 14, that devoted man of God 
opened his mission among us by preaching two sermons in 
Wesley Chapel, morning and evening. Perhaps there 
never was so great a movement upon the minds of men 
generally in Lincoln before. Thousands during both ser- 
vices heard, with undivided attention, words whereby they 
may be saved. How delightful to see the truth producing 
its intended effects on the human mind, manifested in the 
falling tear, in the heaving sigh, and in the penitential 
prayer, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' At the close 
of the day, 113 persons gave in their names as having re- 
ceived good ; and out of that number some were brought 
from the world to obtain pardoning mercy ; others who had 
fallen from grace were reclaimed, and between fifty and 
sixty professed to experience the sanctifying influence of 
the Holy Ghost in cleansing them from all sin. The cold 
and carnal may see nothing of importance in all this ; yea, 



ARRIVAL IX LINCOLN. 177 

they may call our meetings scenes of confusion ; but what 
of that ? Where is the man filled with the spirit of the 
great Master, that will not rejoice to see souls, ruined and 
undone by sin, made happy through faith in Christ ? The 
angels in heaven see no disorder in a score or more of 
precious souls earnestly seeking salvation : the reverse is 
the fact. May the work commenced here be but the pre- 
lude to a more glorious outpouring of the Holy Ghost !" 

Mr. Caughey speaks of his first Sabbath as follows, in 
his journal : — 

Lincoln. — June 15th, Monday morning. — Yesterday I 
opened my commission here, with good efi*ect; — a great 
door and an effectual seemed to be opened to me of the 
Lord, and at once. Many were saved. '^ Lord, when thou 
wentest out of Seir^ when thou marchedst out of the field 
of JEdom^ the earth trembled, and the heaven dropped, the 
clouds dropped water. The mountains melted from before 
the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of 
Israel," — or as the margin has it, '' The mountains flowed 
from before the Lord.'' Judges 5: 4, 5. Oh, but it was 
so in a gracious degree yesterday. 

I am entertained at the mansion of Mr. Cullingham^ 
and surrounded with comforts. Bless thou the Lord, 
my soul ! The Rev. Alexander Straehan is the superin- 
tendent ; — a congenial spirit. 

Afternoon. — The yoke of thought seldom sits easy on 
Monday. Enjoyed a sweet walk ; — much of Aristotle's 
opinion, that true felicity consists in the right contempla- 
tion of the mind ; for one's happiness much depends upon 
the direction taken by the thoughts. 
\ There is sound philosophy in sending them God-ward. 
It is thus God and the soul are speedily brought together ; 
and by this means all the fruits of the Spirit are sweetly 
invigorated. 

I like the idea of him, who considered meditation as the 



178 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

friend of all the graces^ and the grand helper in watering 
all the plantation ! I had many sweet thoughts^ none 
of which were from a joyless region ; and none were 
allowed any vagrancy in that direction. This is gocvi 
policy for Mondays^ when body and mind are enfeebled 
after the labour of the Sabbath. 

June 17. — That is a sweet text, "Rejoice evermore^ 
pray without ceasing^ and in everything give thanks,'' 
My materials thereon are capable of great expansion. 
That idea has a pleasing effect, — '' felicities running into 
felicities," as drops of water ^ run into drops by assimila- 
tion^ till they form a rivulet^ a brook, a river, a lake, an 
ocean ; — drop after drop of spiritual comfort, assimilating, 
until the soul bathes herself in a sea of happiness ! And 
notes of music, running into notes, until all the air is 
melody : — notes of thanksgiving, running into kindred 
notes, till all the heart is harmony. To this add, sun- 
beams, assimilating with sunbeams, until all the atmosphere 
is sunshine ; — till all the atmosphere of the soul is full of 
heavenly sunshine ! Then we rejoice evermore, and in 
everything give thanks! Many here are having their 
affections all turned into harmony by the assimilating pro- 
cesses of sanctifying grace ; and all the heart a hemisphere 
of gladdening sunshine ! 

Enjoyed an agreeable walk through the Old Cathedral ; 
— a venerable structure, frowning from " its sovereign 
hill." The great bell reminds of Wordsworth's lines : — 

" And he had been where Lincoln bell 
Flings o'er the fen its pondrous knell, 
Its far-renown'd alarum." 

June 18. — " There was tvar in the gates,'' sang Deborah, 
the heroine of Israel. And why, because the people had 
sinned in choosing new gods ; — that brought war ! Judges 



ARRIVAL IN LINCOLN. 179 

5 : 8. And how evident the jealous God has come 
down into Lincoln^ to turn and overturn ! 

The flinty hearts gave way with unbelief, and tears fur- 
rowed hard faces ; — but here and there, 

*' One who was suffering tumult in his soul, 
Yet failed to seek the sure relief in prayer." 

The work of God kindles upon sinners here, as fire 
among dry stubble. Surely this is going to be a great 
work. Jesus, ride on ! 

June 19. — The frost-work of unbeliefs and mental re- 
bellion, is melting down with amazing rapidity. How the 
living waters flow ! 

I love to preach from Luke 15 : 10, ^' Likewise I say 
unto you^ there is joy in the presence of the angels of Grodj 
over one sinner that repenteth.'' It fires my soul, and 
makes it revival all over ! I never preach from it without 
sucking fire out of it, and a right royal ambition to glad- 
den Heaven ! 

My soul gathers a soul-stirring divinity from the joy of 
angels over the repenting sinner. But how soon I am 
made to feel how intensely earnest is Satan in preventing 
the cause of this angelic delight ; — showing his inextin- 
guishable envy and hatred not only towards man^ but to- 
wards his former associates in glory, who, unlike him, kept 
their first estates ! Satan is utterly hopeless^ doubtless, of 
ever making one among the loyal and triumphant multi- 
tudes of glory ! 

June 20. — A great move on holiness last night ; — resolved 
to have the two revivals go on together, — Justification and 
Sanctification, without which a great and 'permanent work 
of God is not to be expected. The church must keep pace 
with the revival, or reaction is sure to follow ; — she keeps 
pace with it, when trophies of sanctifying grace are as 
numerous as the trophies of justifying grace ! That idea 



180 TirE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

of crowning our petition by believing that we do receive^ 
when praying for purity and perfect love^ has a good effect. 
Solomon says, " A virtuous woman is a crown to her hus- 
band;" ay! and believing is the crown oi prayer, Mark 
11 : 24. Those who do not crown their prayer by believ- 
ing^ must expect to be deficient in receiving. When we 
believe that we do receive that blessing for which we have 
prayed, this is to crown our petition ; and " crowned headsy'' 
we know, are always received with distinguished honour ! 
When we thus crown our petitions^ Grod crowns them with 
returning blessings! 

So far as we can ascertain, and a strict account has been 
kept, about two hundred and eighty souls have been saved 
here since last Sabbath morning ; of whom one hundred 
and thirty are from the world, and fifty sanctified. It ap- 
pears, then, that the revival of sanctification is not keeping 
pace with that of justification. 

Afternoon.— Th^YQ is great trouble among the ungodly ; 
— relieved somewhat by the abuse and low wit of the news- 
paper reporters^ who seem to consider me "free game^'" 
quite beyond the protection of "the game laws F' — to be 
"shot at^' or "run down'' at pleasure. They belong to 
" the penny-a-liner'' tribe ; — or as one named them, "Fac- 
tion's jaded minions, by the page paid for abuse^ and oft- 
repeated lies." Well, poor fellows, they must live, and if 
my movements bring them a few more pence^ to keep soul 
and body together, why, I must not grumble. 

But their talent seems to be of a low currish order, — 
snarling and barking at everything that is too high for 
them, without effecting anything ! — like the great dog 
Battler at Sparkbrook Eouse^ Birmingham, who barked 
long and loud at a piece of wood I flung up into a tree, 
and which stuck fast ; — all poor Rattler could do was to 
bark at it, but it would not come down after all his bark- 
ing, and he gave it up, at length ! 



ARRIVAL IN LINCOLN. 181 

Evening, — A sweet walk, pacing to and fro, in a soli- 
tary place. I gather strength alone, and deeper views of 
the deeps within. Had what Rowland Hill called ^' climb- 
trig thoughts ; — climbing after Grod !'' There are pulsations 
of the Spirit, which arouse to prayer instead of medita- 
tion 

Monday morning, June 22. — ^^ The King of Glory'' was 
with us yesterday, — " the Lord mighty in battle,'' Ps. 24 : 
8. " There fell down many slain, because the war was of 
God," 1 Chron. 5: 22. Of the sinners slain by 'Hhe 
sword of the Lord," about seventy were made alive, healed, 
and saved, lived and praised the wondrous Name of him 
who was dead and is alive again, and liveth for evermore. 

But some got frightened, and fled ; — as if to illustrate 
that precaution of our God, Exod. 13 : 17, '' For God 
said. Lest peradventure the people repent when they see 
war, and they return to Egypt." However, they received 
impressions they will never forget in time or in eternity. 

June 23. — The war is '' sore against the Philistines," in 
these days of the Son of God, when he has evidently arisen 
to save his Israel out of the hand of all their enemies. 

But '' the Reporters for the Press" are active as wasps. — 
Their reports are full of misrepresentations, exclamations 
and protests. However, there is nothing new in all this. 
My first impressions of them are fully sustained; — '^ with- 
out are dogs," said the angel to John; — ay, and dogs 
always bark at what they cannot understand. But I have 
always noticed that the small cur breed are the most in- 
veterate and unreasonable barkers, and the hardest to be 
pacified, and frequently are the means of setting the larger 
dogs on ! — reminding one of that stanza in '^ The Lays of 
Ancient Rome," — 

**But the vile Claudian litter^ 
Raging with currish spite, 
Still yelp and snap at those who run, 
Still run from those who smite!" 

16 • 



182 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

The Psalmist exclaimed, " Pogs have compassed me." 
Ps. 22: 16. "Give not that which is holy unto dogs,'* 
says our Lord, they will only bark at it ! St. Paul says, 
"Beware of dogs,'' an appellation he gave to the Jews^ 
and which the Jews had always given to the Gentiles, but 
which he thought the Jews had fairly merited by their 
continual harking at Christians ! 

An old writer defines the nature of such human animals 
thus: ^' They are continually returning like the snarling^ 
ill-natured dog, to their predominant sins, larking at and 
tearing the characters of others, by evil speaking, back- 
biting and slandering!" However, this is a tax which I 
suppose most preachers have to pay who are successful. 

June 24. — Had what Baxter calls heart-searching and 
heart-breaking truths; and brought home in a searching, 
awakening, a breaking-down manner ! Surely this is a 
great and mighty work of God. 

June 2d.— Light, life, love ! Armed with these in the 
pulpit, how suddenly are sinners moved ! Like begets 
like, — light, life and love spread on every side. Whereas, 
, without these a preacher does little or nothing. But light 
convinces, — life awakens and secures attention ; and love 
melts and moves, refines and elevates. Hallelujah I 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ADVANTAGES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ENGLISH ME- 
THODISM. 

A LETTER. 

Lincoln, June 24, 1846. 
A GREAT work of God in this little city of Lincolnshire ! 
As in Nottingham, it burst forth as an irrepressible flame, 



ADVANTAGES OF ENGLISH METHODISM. 183 

and spreads on every hand ! No one can doubt the pre- 
sence of the mighty God of Jacob. My soul trembles and 
adores ! 

And could you see the host of praying men with which 
I am surrounded ; — sturdy, cultivated, large-souled English 
talent! What a "gathering'' of them to the standard of 
Emmanuel^ from all the plains and hills around ! To such 
a host, God seems as if evidently saying, '' Thou art my 
battle axe and weapons of war.'' Jer. 51 : 20. 

Wesleyan Methodism has a tremendous responsibility 
regarding them ; and so have Wesleyan Ministers. Such 
a host of talented and zealous men should always have 
plenty of work to do for God. They are ready for the 
battle of soul-saving always, and only want some one to 
whom they may look up, — to lead them forth to the battle- 
field for souls, and they would shake the trembling gates 
of Hell. The same may be said of '' the Lord's host" in 
Nottingham^ Birmingham^ Sheffield, Huddersfield, York, 
kc. 

Woe be unto the Wesleya7i Conference, should these 
" trained soldiers" [evidently trained by soma faithful 
Abrahams, whose names are, doubtless, in the books of 
the Chronicles of Wesleyan Methodism, Gen. 14 : 14] 
have their energies turned against it, instead of against 
the kingdom of darkness ! 

The Palladium of Methodism in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, 
Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and other 
shires I have visited in this kingdom, is the strenuous and 
determined perpetuation of that great Revival begun under 
the preaching of the Wesleys, and carried forward by their 
successors ; — and for which, it evidently appears, God has 
raised up such a surprising mass of sanctified talent in the 
laity, — Leaders and Local Preachers, and prayer leaders, 
especially. They are eminently fitted for the mighty 
work. But, alas ! should their attention be turned to other 



184 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

tilings, through mismanagement and indifference to Revi- 
vals ; — should trial and temptations assail them, and these 
giant intellects be turned and exerted to pull down what 
they should build up, then woe to the Wesleyan Conference ! 
for they may become battle axes and weapons of war, 
perilous to ''the ornamental glory of Methodism^'' as the 
hammers of the sturdy Dutch Protestants to the carved 
imagery of Popery, in and around the old Cathedral of 
Utrecht, in the terrible hour of retribution ; — the effects 
of their hammers I saw with my own eyes ; — effects from 
which neither Popery nor her images have ever recovered 
in Holland. 

for a voice like a trumpet to sound this warning in 
the ears of every member of the English Wesleyan Con- 
ference ! — Give these men plenty to do ! Lead them forth 
to battle and to victory. Keep them in the field, by lead- 
ing them forth in a perpetual effort in soul-saving. Other- 
wise, and it needs no prophet's vision to foresee it, their 
rusty weapons, fretting and chafing in the sheath, for want 
of something better to do, may be turned against your- 
selves ! You may do something that will cause it ; which 
may God forbid ! But my voice cannot reach them all, 
and if it could, its warnings might not be appreciated. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PREPARING TO LEAVE LINCOLN. 

June 26. — The greatest prudence is needed, and dis- 
crimination, in pressing believers to expect full salvation 
now^ by simple faith ; — that is by believing that they do 
receive ; — that it may not be a dry assent ; — a believing 
without previous consecration^ and an entire renunciation 



PREPARING TO LEAVE LINCOLN. 185 

of every sinful way ; — or a believing without consequent 
fruity — that is, '' believe that you have it, and you have 
it,'' which is consummate folly and nonsense. Nay, but 
'^'believe that you do receive it, and you shall have it,'' is 
the true Gospel direction, as a condition ; — and if you do 
not /e^Z that you receive it in the moment of believing, 
there is either something wrong or deficient in previous 
preparation, or present faith. In that case, they are not 
to be discouraged, but re-examine themselves, and try 
again ! — and, as Mr. Fletcher directs, they are to struggle 
until they touch Jesus, and feel healing, comforting virtue 
proceeding from him; — and having found their way to 
Christ, they must repeat the touch, till they find that he 
lives in them, by the powerful operation of his loving spi- 
rit. Then they will say with Paul, " / live, yet not I, hut 
Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the 
flesh, Hive by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, 
and gave himself for me,'' 

Saturday morning, June 27. — About to fold up my 
papers, and be ofi* to Boston, a town in this county, some 
thirty or forty miles from here. 

This has been a great work for so short a time, such as 
Lincoln has never before witnessed. Over seventy back- 
sliders have been reclaimed ; more than two hundred 
believers have enrolled their names, to the honour of the 
cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, 1 John 1:7; and over 
three hundred sinners have been converted from the tvorld ; 
— all this within the short space of two weeks! It is, 
indeed, the Lord's doings, and marvellous in our eyes. 

A large proportion of those from the world, have joined 
the Wesleyan Church in the city. Other denominations, 
doubtless, will receive some ; and the neighbouring circuits, 
a share of the trophies of grace. My heart says. All glory 
be given to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 
Ghost ! Glory in the highest ! 
16* 



186 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

I have had a pleasant home at the mansion of Mr. 
Callingham, Rev. Mr. Strachan^ the superintendent, did 
all in his power, to make my labours pleasant, and that 
the word of the Lord might have free course^ run and he 
glorified. The Leaders ^vq flames of fire. Hallelujah to 
Grod and the Lamb ! 

But the pilgrim habit is on me, and I must hasten 
away, — away ! 

***** * 

Cheered by a sweet letter from Nottingham^ — from 
brother I>ag, a local preacher. He says. " You will be 
glad to learn that the good work is going on amongst us. 
Had you been present to see the crowded state of our 
vestries and class rooms ^ the last several nights, and heard 
the experience of the 'Fathers in Israel^' and the 'babes 
in Christy' you would have blessed God that the cloud 
pointed your way to Nottingham; — as one remarked, ' The 
Lord has not only added hundreds of new ones^ but he 
has made the old ones all over again !' 

The last week we added to our classes thirty persons, 
who had found mercy during the Revival, but whose names 
had not been registered ; so you see we have gone beyond 
the two thousand. Praise the Lord ! 

But there are a few of the same temperament as the 
Old Oarmelite^ ^ booking out for facts," and resisting 
noonday demonstration, with a ' Welly we shall see in a 
few weehSy' — but the Lord is diminishing the number of 
such, — they are positively getting ashamed of the ' stale 
expression;' others of them are confessing, ^I shouldn't 
wonder if God is in the work after all!' — while we, as 
with the heart of one man, are filled with rejoicing, because 
God has visited his heritage ! — and still we hear the 
'sound of abundance of rain.' To Him be all the 
praise ! For my own part, I believe I shall have to bless 
God tliroughout eternity, for your visit to Nottingham. I 



TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 187 

feel while I am writing, what I professed to experience 
under one of your sermons, — that the blood of Jesus 
Christ eleanseth from all sin. Hallelujah ! I shall say 
no more lest I weary you. If you ever should lay hold of 
a stray moment in which to write me, I should be very 
happy to hear from you. I remain yours most affection- 
ately in Christ Jesus, 

George Day.''* 

Well, let me thank God, and take courage, and move 
on for farther conflicts and conquests. 

** Soon will the toilsome strife be o'er." 

It is not to be wondered at that such a sudden and 
tremendous outpouring of the Spirit as that at Notting- 
ham, should have staggered some, and excited the incre- 
dulity of others. It was so on the day of Pentecost. Acts 
2 : 12, 13. And it is so, here in Lincoln^ doubtless. 

J. C. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 

rpQ ▼ Jf* 'fJ 'i^ 

Hull, February, 1844. 
My dear Brother : 
Yours of the 27th instant I received with emotions of 
pleasure mingled with sympathy. It delighted me to learn 
that God had made my humble ministry, while in Liver- 

* Dear servant of God ! not long after he left for Heaven, in the fuU 
triumphs uf faith ! J. C. 



188 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

pool, the means of reclaiming you from a backsliding state, 
and of introducing you, once more, into the liberty of the 
children of God. But I sympathize with you on account 
of the impression you feel, that God has called you to 
preach the Gospel. It is the uncertainty which appears 
to rest upon your mind respecting it, that inclines me to 
pity you ; otherwise, it would be a matter of congratula- 
tion. 

I admit the work of a minister of Christ is one of great 
risk. The responsibilities of that oflSce, when properly 
realized and/(3Z^, are almost too much for the human mind 
to sustain. This relates chiefly to our accountability to 
God for the mass of mind with which we are daily encom- 
passed. And, in addition, the jeopardy incurred, by ex- 
citing the malice of devils and wicked people, is, perhaps, 
great beyond calculation. The preacher of the Gospel 
occupies a dangerous post in Emmanuel's army. Hell's 
sharpest shooters level their keenest arrows at this "legate 
of the skies." Luther was once heard to say, that "to 
preach the Gospel is to draw the hatred of the whole world 
upon a man." This is perhaps too strong, at least some 
may think it so ; but only those who preach the Gospel, 
as Grod requires it should be preached^ know how much of 
the malignity of the human mind it excites, especially 
when it proves "a savour of death unto death." I have 
often reflected upon that saying of an eminent Germ^an 
preacher : " The faithful preaching of the Gospel may 
sometimes be like the sinking of a burning mountain in 
the sea : — sleepers awake, and the dry bones are stirred. 
On such occasions the thoughts of many hearts are 
revealed. 0, what divisions and searchings of heart may 
we then witness ! The faithful and awakening preacher 
of the Gospel is then regarded as the ofi*ending party. 
One of the men, who have turned the world upside down, 
is come hither also !" 



TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 189 

The sentiment of Luther, if applied to infernal spirits, 
is awfully true : '' To preach the Gospel, is to draw the 
hatred of all Hell upon a man." An eminent minister, 
now with God, used to say, that comparatively ^ the Devil 
fights with neither small nor great, except with ministers. 
Some have supposed the mountain^ to which our Lord 
called his disciples,— where he commissioned his twelve 
apostles, and sent them forth to call sinners to repentance, 
— is figurative of two things. First : That while minis- 
ters are elevated in point of talent, character, influence ; 
and are capable of a wider range of observation than other 
men ; they also attract attention, and provoke the criticism 
of friends and foes, more than any other class of men. 
Second : As mountains are exposed to winds, clouds, tem- 
pests, and various storms, such as rain, hail, snow, light- 
nings, and thunders ; so are the ministers of Christ, to the 
severest conflicts of earth and Hell. 

I write not these things, my dear friend, to discourage, 
but to warn you, as well as to apprise you of what is before 
you, should the impression be from God. 

Nor should we, on the other hand, lose sight of the fact, 
that the work of a Christian minister is glorious and honour- 
able. All the inhabitants of Heaven take a joyful interest 
in his labours. The acclamations of angelic myriads attend 
perpetually his successful efl*orts, Luke 15 : 10. Besides, 
it is written, that he that is wise to win souls, and who 
turns many to righteousness, shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever. 
Prov. 11 : 30 ; Dan. 12 : 3. 

I do not deny the importance usually attached to other 
employments, nor their highly beneficial effects upon civil- 
ized society. But the work of the Christian ministry is 
superlatively so, as it takes hold of the best and dearest 
interests of man. We may say of the many millions of 
the present generation, that whether they shall be bright 



190 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

and triumphant seraphs around the throne of God, or dark 
and tormented fiends in the horrors of Hell, throughout 
eternity, depends, to an alarming degree, upon the success 
or failure of the labours of Gospel ministers. That all 
this must be determined in a few more revolving years, 
every body will admit ; but how should the ministers of 
Christ be afi'ected by considerations so weighty^ so dread- 
ful! 

I do not envy the position of those ministers, however 
splendid their talents, however honourable their titles, how- 
ever valuable their emoluments, who can quietly deliver 
their Sabbath message, and return again to the enjoyment 
of their beloved seclusion, there to spend the week, with- 
out a tear, or a sigh, or a groan, for the perishing thou- 
sands around them. my God ! what will become of such 
men, when thou comest down, in behalf of the Redeemer 
of the world ? comest down, to make inquisition for the 
lost, who might have been saved, had such ministers been 
faithful to their high calling, and laboured night and day 
to bring the wandering back to Christ? my soul, enter 
thou not into their path, lest thou, finally come into their 
condemnation ! The eternity of the human soul ! An ex- 
istence without an end, in happiness or misery extreme ! 
Eternal life ! Eternal damnation ! Glorious, — dreadful 
thoughts ! And, then, to be convinced daily, without the 
shadow of a doubt, that one or other of these states must 
be the inevitable portion of every sinner we meet, — of all 
the thousands who surround us on every side. What min- 
ister could bear the thoughts without horror, that one of 
these should perish everlastingly through his criminal 
neglect ? It requires a stout heart, indeed, to read, with- 
out a shudder, that awful declaration of the Almighty him- 
self: " So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman 
unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word 
at my mouth, and waim them from me. When I say unto 



TO ONE IxMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 191 

the wicked^ wicked man, thou shalt surely die ; if thou 
dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way^ that ivicked 
man shall die in his iniquity ; hut his blood will I require 
at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of 
his way to turn from it ; if he do not turn from his way he 
shall die in his iniquity ; hut thou hast delivered thy soul/' 
Ezek. 33 : 7-9. But this is the voice of God to every man, 
who is sent forth to call sinners to repentance. Nor should 
it less affect him, than did the appearance of a spirit the 
alarmed friend of Job, in the midnight hour^ when fear 
came upon him, and trembling, which made all his hones to 
shake ; and the hair of his flesh stood up ! Job 4 : 13-15. 
He whose heart has never been thus impressed with the 
jeopardy of a world of sinners, and whose inmost soul has 
never trembled under such a dread impression as the apostle 
felt, when he said, " A dispensation of the Crospel is com- 
mitted unto me ; for necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is 
unto me if I preach not the Gospel,'' should seriously ques- 
tion his call to the Christian ministry. He who has en- 
tered the ministry with motives which originated from 
other principles than the above, and whose heart continues 
to be unimpressed with these deep and painful convictions, 
has, I fear, greatly mistaken his calling ; and, should he 
continue to usurp the sacred office, no matter from what 
human source he has derived his authority, he places his 
own eternal salvation in fearful hazard. 

My mind was greatly moved, some years ago, by that 
awful sentiment of the Rev. Robert Hall. I have not his 
works at hand, but it differs little from the following : 
" Could we realize the calamity of a soul damned, in all 
its extent ; would it suffice to cover the ocean with mourn- 
ing, and the heavens with sackcloth ? or, were the whole 
fabric of nature to become animated and vocal, would it be 
possible for her to utter a groan too deep, or a cry too 
piercing, to express the magnitude and extent of such a 



192 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

calamity?" It was a vivid perception of the same fact, 
which led David Hume, the celebrated infidel, to exclaim, 
" The damnation of one man, is an infinitely greater evil 
in the universe, than the subversion of a thousand millions 
of kingdoms !" Dr. Doddridge, much about the same 
time as Hall's sentiments afi'ected me, carried away my 
mind in an opposite and more pleasing direction : " The 
eternal salvation of one soul, is of greater importance than 
the temporal salvation of a whole kingdom, though it were 
for the space of ten thousand ages ; because there will 
come up a point, an instant in eternity, when that one soul 
shall have existed as long as the united ages of all the 
inhabitants of that kingdom, ranged in succession for ten 
thousand ages !" Another man of God entertained similar 
views, when he said, "For the conversion of one soul, it 
were worth a minister's while to have come into the world, 
to have lived, to have laboured, and to have died!" I 
remember an anecdote which is related of one of the aged 
bishops of the church with which I stand connected in 
America. On his return from one of his Episcopal visita- 
tions, which, at that time, reached over a vast extent of 
the Continent, he was informed that he had been made the 
instrument in the conversion of a poor old woman who had 
heard him preach ; the venerable man, though worn down 
by age, hard labour, and many infirmities, was heard to 
exclaim, " Glory be to God ; I will take courage and go 
round the Continent again!" 

Consider, also, the reward of the faithful and successful 
preacher, "Beyond conception great;" for it has been 
truly said of private Christians : — 

** How sweet the joys, the crown how bright, 
Of those who to thy love aspire !" 

How glorious, then, must the recompense be of him whj 
has been instrumental in turning many to righteousness ! 



TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 193 

In every case where one sinner is turned from the error 
of his ways, a soul is saved from death, and a multitude 
of sins are hidden. Every minister should aim at this. If 
God has called him to the work, he will not be put off with 
one ; he will pray and weep away his life, but he will pre- 
vail with Christ to assist him in turning '"many to righte- 
ousness." '(• Many !" Many scores ! hundreds ! thousands ! 
''There is one glory of the sun," says St. Paul, ''and 
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; 
for one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is 
the resurrection of the dead." The same apostle, when 
exhorting his Thessalonian aonverts to faithfulness, ex- 
presses those remarkable sentiments : " For what is our 
hope, or Jot/, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye in 
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? 
For ye are our glory and joy-'' An eminent and success- 
ful minister of the gospel, in America, in the State of 
Maine, when lying on his death-bed, was so full of joy, 
that he could scarcely contain himself, and said to a bro- 
ther clergyman, " Oh ! if ministers only knew the incon- 
ceivable glory that is before them, and the preciousness 
of Christ, they would not be able to refrain from going 
about, leaping, and clapping their hands for joy, and ex- 
claiming, " I'm a minister of Christ ! I'm a minister of 
Christ!" 

You will perceive, then, dear Sir, that, notwithstanding 
all the trials to which you will be exposed, if God has in- 
deed called you to the work of the ministry, you should be 
rather congratulated than pitied. 

If, however, the impression be only a temptation, it 
should rather be considered as a serious misfortune. Whe- 
ther it is a reality or a delusion, the consequences have 
already been most painful. You tell me that, in 1836, 
God, for the sake of Christ, pardoned your sins, and made 
you happy in his love ; that about six months after that 
17 



iy4 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

joyful event, you received into your heart a deep convic- 
tion that God had called you to preach the Gospel ; and 
that, much as you had suflfered previous to your conversion, 
it was as nothing, when compared with the struggles which 
then took place within your heart, '^ Between a sense of 
diity and the fear of man ;'' together with your own '< con- 
scious unworthiness, as well as unfitness for that sacred 
employment." 

It is to be regretted, when you did attempt to call sin- 
ners to repentance, you had not continued to do so, until 
you felt your mind fully satisfied upon the subject. I re- 
member, very well, a period in my past history ; one, 
' indeed, which I must ever look back upon with the deepest 
interest. For some time, these words were almost conti- 
nually upon my heart and tongue : ^-^ I am essaying to go 
forth,'' Julius Caesar, on the banks of the Rubicon, ex- 
claimed, '<■ Shall I proceed or not?" He crossed the Ru- 
bicon, and in an incredibly short time, one million of his 
foes were within his grasp, and fell beneath the arm of his 
power. I crossed the Rubicon, and thousands fell beneath 
the two-edged sword of the Gospel ! 

You ^-ave over too soon. If commissioned from on high, 
your fitness or unfitness would have been no hinderance to 
the putting forth of the mighty power of God. *« Fear 
not^ thou worm Jacob, thou shalt thresh the mountains,'' 
(Isaiah 41 : 14, 15,) said the Lord God to the prophet 
Isaiah. Could you think of a more unlikely instrument 
for such a purpose than a worm ? Ay, but he has pro- 
mised, in the context, to transform that worm into a new 
thrashing instrument, having teeth ; and that by it he would 
thrash the moimtains, and heat them small, and maJce the 
hills as chaff! Let the arm of Omnipotence wield the 
feeblest instrument, and who dare set limits to its power ? 
Young Samson, single-handed and alone, with the new 
jaw-hone of an ass, slew one thousand Philistines, who had 



TO ONE IMPRESSED WITH A CALL TO PREACH. 195 

entered the field against him. One against a thousand ! 
But the battle was the Lord's. When the field was won, 
Samson shouted, '' With the jaw-bone of an ass^ heaps 
upon heapSj with the jaw-bone of an ass have I slain a 
thousand men.'' 

I repeat it, you gave over too soon. From the time you 
cast aAvay the Gospel sword, you date, I perceive, your de- 
cline in religion ; you then gradually lost the life of God 
out of your soul, until, at length, you had totally back- 
slidden. I am still fearful, should the old impression, 
which has again returned, abide^ similar results will follow. 
There is, therefore, no other way for you to save your soul 
alive, than to obei/ the call, or obtain power from God (if 
it be a delusion) to dismiss it from your thoughts for ever. 
I feel for you. Seldom have I known any person succeed 
well, either in religion or business, with such an incubus 
(if I may use the phrase) resting upon the heart. It em- 
barrasses the operations of the mind in everything. The 
consequences attendant upon the non-fulfilment of such a 
call, both to the individual himself, and to others, are too 
tremendous, to suffer him to feel happy and contented, to 
look up to God with confidence and joy, or to pursue any 
calling with alacrity and delight, in direct disobedience to 
this secret conviction on the mind. 

I regret you have written with so much reserve. Have 
you told me all that is in your heart ? You subscribe your- 
self my "S071 in the Gospel." Why not then write more 
freely to your spiritual father ? It is not possible for you 
to write to a more deeply interested friend in England. 
Let this long letter, written amidst a pressure of other 
imperative engagements, bear witness to my concern for 
your welfare. The seals to my ministry are ever dear to 
my heart; they arc my glory and joy, and the expected 
crown of my rejoicing in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Everything that concerns them, takes a deep hold of my 



196 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

heart. Please to favour me with a fuller account of your 
experience. If I can afford you any light as to the nature 
of a call from Grod to preach the Gospel, I shall be most 
happy to do so in my next. What you do must be done 
quickly, as I am uncertain as to the length of my stay in 
this town. 

Affectionately in Jesus, your brother, J. C. , 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

TO THE SAME — A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED. 

Hull, March, 1844. 
My dear Brother : 

I WOULD have answered your letter sooner had it not 
been for the crowd of engagements which, for some time, 
have pressed me on every side. I read your communica- 
tion with close attention and deep interest. Strong as is 
my desire you should go forth into the vineyard of your 
Lord, I still feel unwilling to give judgment in the matter. 
Perhaps a few thoughts on what I conceive to be a " calV 
to preach the Gospel, may assist you. 

A call to the work of the ministry is a direct revelation 
from Heaven. This, and this only, is an indispensable 
requisite. A deficiency in this respect involves conse- 
quences the most ruinous. To enter the work of the mi- 
nistry with any conviction short of this, is a usurpation 
and direct desecration of the sacred office. That solemn 
declaration of St. Paul is to the point: '<- And no man 
taketh this honour unto himself, hut he that is called of 
Grod, as was Aaron.'' Heb. 5: 4. We read of some, in 
1 Sam. 2 : 36, who asked for the priest's oflSce, as the 
means of obtaining a piece of bread. When it is desired 



A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED. 197 

in order to obtain a <' good living," it amounts to the same 
thing. The principle is the same, when it is sought in 
prospect of ease^ honour^ or leisure for literary pursuits^ 
or because the candidate has become weary of a gay and 
fashionable life, and sigh§ for solitude and seclusion from 
the tvorld. Such persons are generally aware of their mo- 
tives at such a critical period in their history. They aije 
usually conscious too, throughout their career in the minis- 
try, that other pursuits are better adapted to their '^ talent 
ani feeling'' than that sacred work in which they are en- 
gaged ; that, were it not for the rules of ministerial deco- 
rum, they would cheerfully divide their energies between 
those worldly pursuits and the church ; or, at once, gladly 
exchange their spiritual employments for any other pro- 
fession holding out equal or superior secular advantages. 
I have read of a young man who, after receiving a good 
education, began to think about some suitable profession. 
Finally, nothing seemed to be more laudable and honoura- 
ble than to be a minister of the Gospel. Theological 
studies were consequently attended to, and ecclesiastical 
sanctions obtained in due order. He began to preach; 
but, after the novelty of his new employment had passed 
away, it became irksome, and he sighed for something else 
more congenial to his principles and habits. He then turned 
his attention to the study of medicine, and in due time be- 
came a physician. But this, too, lost its charms, and, like 
divinity, was thrown aside for the study of law ; in short, 
he was admitted to the bar, in which profession he con- 
tinued during the remainder of life. A friend taking oc- 
casion one day to ask him for an explanation of the singu- 
lar instability which had marked his career, he replied : 
'' When I chose divinity, I did it because I thought the 
soul of more importance than the body ; but I soon found 
that men were more concerned about their bodies than 
their souls. This discovery induced me to become a phy- 
17^ 



198 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

sician. Continuing to make my observations, it was not 
long before I learned, that whatever importance might be 
attached either to soul or body, people were more intent 
upon the gratification of their wicked tempers, than upon 
providing for either. This consideration led me to prefer 
my last occupation, that of a law^yer. And I can assure 
you. Sir, that so far from being deceived in my calcula- 
tions, I do not think I shall ever change my present pro- 
fession.'' 

It is not difficult to discover the source from whence this 
gentleman derived his "call^'' nor the motives by which he 
was actuated. A man commissioned by Christ Jesus for the 
work of the ministry, could no more have acted thus, other 
things being equal, than he could have committed suicide. 

Had his congregation been so concerned about their 
souls, as to crown the messenger of the Lord with many 
honours ; increasing, at the same time, his income, to the 
utmost extent of their means ; it is probable he would have 
continued to manifest a concern for their souls. But, sur- 
mising that people generally regarded the health of their 
bodies more than that of their better part, he naturally 
concluded the calling of a physician to be at once more 
lucrative and honourable. Perceiving his mistake, and 
observing the prevalence of bad passions, and the univer- 
sal disposition to yield to them, the career of a lawyer 
presented the most likely path for the accomplishment of 
his purposes. The proper business of the man when a 
minister, was to labour day and night to awaken in the 
people a concern for their eternal interests. He had the 
means at hand to do so ; but he had no heart for the work. 
I question whether the gentleman had ever entertained a 
thought of the kind. It was not, '^ Woe is me^ if I preach 
not the Crospel ;'' but, ^' Woe is me, if I cannot make out to 
live as well by it as by any other profession." From such 
men, may the good Lord deliver his church ! Amen. 



A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED. 199 

When a man is set apart by the Holy Ghost to the work 
of the ministry, he receives generally two calls ; an inward 
and an outward call. The inward call, I would define to 
be:— 

1. Direct. 2. Indirect. 

1. Direct ; that is, from God himself, by the Holy 
Ghost. Hence the propriety of that question which is 
usually put to a candidate for ordination : " Do you think 
you are moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this 
oflEice and ministry?" 

2. Indirect^ or inferential ; that is, gracious qualifica- 
tions. The outward call^ I would define to be : 1. Provi- 
dential interpositions. 2. Positive usefulness. 

In 'order that you may have clearer light upon this 
awfully important subject, it is necessary I should enlarge ; 
but it must be briefly^ as the bounds of a letter, even if I 
had time to spare, will not allow of much amplification. 

1. The inward and direct calL I define this to be, a 
deep and abiding impression made upon a man's heart by 
the Holy Ghost that he is called of God to preach the 
Gospel. Ordinarily, this is associated with a satisfactory 
consciousness that his sins are forgiven, and that he is re- 
conciled to God through the blood of the Lamb. This 
impression is sometimes imparted to the mind about the 
period of conversion ; more frequently, months or years 
afterwards. Many have felt it long before their regenera- 
tion. There have been instances, not a few, where indi- 
viduals have postponed their conversion on that single 
jaccount. The cases are not rare, in which the call remains 
upon the conscience, even in a backsliding state. The 
" why and wherefore ' connected with such peculiar periods 
of this manifestation of the Spirit is not for man to know ; 
as '« it is not for" us " to know the times or the seasons 
which the Father hath put in his own power." Acts 1 : 7. 
Much may depend upon the temperament of the individual ; 



200 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

the constitution of Ms mind ; his age ; education ; in which 
I include^ not literary acquirements merely^ but self -know- 
ledge^ and a proper degree of acquaintance with spiritual 
things ; the work to which he is called in the church ; pecu- 
liar talents; the temptations to which he is or may he 
exposed ; the willingness or disinclination he may feel to 
obey the call ; to which, perhaps, we may add, the deter- 
mined length of his mortal existence. 

In some, the call is little more than a solitary idea in 
the mind ; it abides there, and seems, in fact, to form a 
part of the mind itself, or thinking faculty ; but without 
creating any serious trouble or uneasiness. To such, it is 
rather pleasing than otherwise. The mind remains quiet 
and passive, because there stands associated with the idea, 
another impression, — the time is not yet^ — •' Tarry ye in 
Jerusalem until ye he endued with poiuer from on high.'' 
This seems to be the voice of the Spirit. It is not uncom- 
mon for such persons to be startled at finding themselves 
in the act of dividing and subdividing a text ; nor unu- 
sual to feel a glowing zeal enkindle within the heart, 
along with an accession of new ideas, which rush in troops 
into the mind ; nor to imagine that they see before them 
a large and deeply attentive congregation, moved, broken, 
melted down under the power of truth. This is a visita- 
tion of the Spirit ; it is a vision of glory ; but, like the 
fitful gleams of lightning upon an evening sky, such mani- 
festations appear, and as quickly disappear, leaving the 
mind sombre, thoughtful, melancholy. Nor is it unusual 
for such persons to dream they are in the act of preaching 
the Gospel ; nor to be awakened by a powerful excitement, 
either from a sense of being straitened in the delivery of 
the message, or from the presence of a very large or small 
congregation ; by finding an audience hard, or greatly 
affected; leaving the house displeased; or, by hearing 
manj^ sinners eying aloud for mercy. The loss of a text 



A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED. 201 

from the memory, or the not being able to find it, or even 
the sound of his own voice, has awakened the dreamer ; 
when, behold ! it was only a dream ! It is with such indi- 
viduals, not unfrequently, in the public assembly, in the 
meeting set apart for exhortation and prayer, as with 
young Samson, " Wlien the Spirit of Grod began to move 
him at times in the camp of Dan betweert Zorah and Esh- 
taoV Judg. 13 : 25. '' He who is called to instruct souls," 
says one of the old divines, ''is called of God, and not 
by his own ambition ; and what is this call, but an inward 
incentive of love, soliciting us to be zealous for the salva- 
tion of our brethren ? So often as he who h engaged in 
preaching the word, shall feel his inward man to be excited 
with divine affections, so often let him assure himself that 
God is there, and that he is invited by him to seek the 
good of souls." 

In others, however, the call is imperative and imme- 
diate. The mind is arrested and commanded by a power 
that is invisible. Hell, with its horrors ; heaven, with its 
glories ; the soul, with its impending destinies ; sin, and 
its penalties ; Jesus Christ, and his bloody agonies ; the 
law of God, with its dreadful sanctions ; redemption, with 
its involving responsibilities ; and poor lost sinners, with 
all their appalling jeopardies ; — all — all these things are 
spread before the mind daily, accompanied with one all- 
absorbing conviction, " A dispensation of the Gospel is com- 
mitted unto me; woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel,'' 
1 Cor. 9 : 16, 17. 

To such, the word of the Lord is often made a reproach ; 
many deride their testimony; many defame: "Report," 
say they, "and we will report it." There is fear and 
trouble ou every side. So it was with Jeremiah the prophet ; 
and should any such say with him, "Then I said, I will 
not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his 
name ;" alas ! he will soon feel, that the burning, or agony 



202 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

within, will soon become more intolerable than all the per- 
secutions which devils and men could raise against him ; — 
<'but," said Jeremiah, <''Ms word was in mine heart as a 
burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was loeary with 
forbearing, and I could not stay'' Jerem. 20: 8 — 10. 
Let him proceed in the face of all opposition, — in the 
streets, fields, hedges, lanes, and highways, delivering his 
message, and soon, very soon, he shall be able joyfully to 
declare with the same prophet, f-^But the Lord is with me 
as a mighty, terrible one; therefore my persecutors shall 
stumble, and they shall not prevail : they shall be greatly 
ashamed ; for they shall not prosper : their everlasting con- 
fusion shall not be forgotten.'' 

The inward call, in another mind, may resolve itself 
into a willing, cheerful, active, obedient principle. The 
mind is habitually in the mood subjunctive : — '' If the Lord 
has called me to work for him, I am willing to go to the 
ends of the earth; let him only open my way." This is 
the constant language of the heart. In the mean time, the 
person is active for Grod now ; nor does he idly wait for 
some great door to be opened, that he might accomplish 
some wonderful achievement in the conversion of many 
thousands of sinners; nor does he desire to pass, by a 
single step, from being a private member, to the position 
of a regularly ordained minister. He begins immediately^ 
and, at every proper opportunity, exhorts his fellow-sinners 
to turn to God. It matters not with him, whether the 
next company he shall meet may amount to two, a dozen, 
a score, or a hundred; he determines they shall hear the 
truth, if by any means he may save some. He has begun 
to do the work of his Master ; uncertain, it may be, as to 
what station he is called to occupy in the church, — whether 
as a local preacher, or as an ordained minister. Nor does 
he allow this to trouble him. He concerns not himself 
one moment whether he is to be a hewer of wood or a 



A CALL TO PREACH DEFINED. 203 

drawer of water ; whether his Lord has ordained him to 
•be a vessel of gold, or of silver, or of earth. He aims at 
holiness to the Lord in everything ; knowing well that if 
he obtain and retain this, he shall be a vessel unto honour, 
and meet for his Master's use, prepared unto every good 
work. 2 Tim. 2 : 19—21. His heart is filled with right- 
eousness and overflowing love. Perishing sinners engross 
his tenderest compassion. He would do anything^ within 
the circle of his power, to save them. But love gives speed 
to his chariot wheels; — or, rather, he is borne upward and 
along on the wings of faith and love, restlessly desiring 
and vigorously pursuing the salvation of all around him. 
2d. But, you will inquire, ''What do you mean by the 
indirect call?" I mean, it is inferential ; and is evidenced 
by certain qualifications. These are of a three-fold nature ; 
—gracious, — natural, — acquired. 1. Gracious qualifica' 
tions ; remission of sins, through faith in Christ ; the direct 
witness of the Spirit to his adoption ; (Rom. 8 : 16 ;) the 
possession of purity of heart, or a hungering and thirsting 
of soul after that blessing ; deadness to the world ; strong 
desires for the salvation of sinners ; and entire devoted- 
ness to God. 

2. Natural qualifications ; — a sound judgment, or good 
common sense ; a retentive memory ; ready utterance ; 
lively sensibilities ; a good voice ; distinct enunciation ; 
absence of any disgusting deformity of body ; a mind un- 
embarrassed by erroneous and anti-scriptural opinions ; a 
thirst for knowledge ; and a quenchless desire for the con- 
version of sinners. 

3. Acquired qualifications ; — a cultivated mind ; if skilled 
in the dead languages, the better ; but well educated in 
the Holy Scriptures, and stored with the wealth of English 
literature ; not a novice in the things of God, or of human 
nature, but possessed of an accurate knowledge of both ; 
an intimate acquaintance with real life, — not merely with 



204 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

the characters and employments, &c., of literary men, but 
with the peculiarities connected with the every-day life of 
the masses of the population. 

3d. By the outward call to the work of the ministry, 
I mean, 1. Providential interpositions ; such as an open 
door for usefulness ; a call from that portion of the church 
of which he is a member, the confidence and affection of 
the people of God, freedom from those embarrassments 
which would prevent attendance to the "call;" such as, 
1st, being in debt without ability to pay ; 2d, the encum- 
brance of weighty responsibilities in business ; 3d, a wife 
and family. The first would involve the credit of religion ; 
the second would tend greatly to unfit the mind for habits 
of close thinking, and much prayer ; both of which are 
essential to success in preaching the Gospel ; the third 
would disqualify him, at least, from entering the regular 
ministry among the Wesleyan Methodists. 2. Positive 
usefulness is a mark of the outward call. Has he been 
instrumental in the awakening and conversion of sinners, 
or in the reclaiming of backsliders? Have his labours 
been rendered a blessing to the souls of God's people ? 

These, dear Sir, are my views, as it regards the inward 
and outward call to preach the Gospel. 

I would enlarge, but other engagements prevent. If the 
above remarks assist you, in any' degree, in arriving at a 
correct conclusion, I shall feel truly happy. 

I remain, in Jesus Christ, your sincere friend, 

J. C. 



THE DISCOURAGED ENCOURAGED* 205 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

TO THE SAME. — THE DISCOURAGED ENCOURAGED. 

Hull, March, 1844. 
Dear Brother : 

I AM not surprised that your tender conscience has 
taken the alarm, nor that you have been led to exclaim, 
'' Who is sufficient for these things?'' To this I reply: 
'' He who is called of Crod, as was Aaron,'' to him will be 
given every necessary qualification. Whom Christ ordains, 
he qualifies ; nor will there be any injurious delay in the 
acquisition of such a preparation when the Holy Ghost 
has become his tutor. Let the individual be a co-worker 
with God ; let him maintain a single eye and a willing 
mind, and that mighty hand, which upholds and guides 
the luminaries of heaven in their courses, will not only 
qualify him to be a '^burning luminary'* to chase away 
<' the gloom of hellish night," but, if faithful, '^ his path- 
way along the sky" of the church, shall be steady as the 
ascending sun, as he advances to the meridian of his glory 
and usefulness. 

It was not my intention in my last letter, to " discour- 
age" you, or to throw any obstacles in your way. You 
desired a plain and faithful statement of what I considered 
" a call to preach the Gospel" to be ; together with '' quali- 
fications," &c. Your request was attended to, according 
to the best of my ability, though, I must confess, in a very 
hasty manner. 

I do not wonder that my views, as to the natural and 
acquired qualifications of one called to preach, should 
become ''sources of the greatest discouragement." You 
should remember, however, that the scale of measurement 
(if I may use the phrase), laid down in my last, if it has 
18 



206 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

not been taken at the highest, reaches to a high point in 
the standard of ministerial accomplishments. 

Consider, that a person when called to this great work 
may possess in an eminent degree, the necessary capacity 
^to knoio^ that is, to acquire^ retain^ and improve useful 
kytowledge for the benefit of his fellow-creatures ; he may 
possess all the great elements of mind and talent which 
the Gospel ministry demands, although they are not yet 
fully developed. Circumstances, uncontrollable, as far as 
the individual is concerned, may detain his powers of mind 
for a considerable time in a state of mediocrity ; a defective 
education ; youth ; or the absence of those requisite events, 
which are sometimes all-powerful in calling forth talent ; — - 
or it may arise from the wise and just purposes of God. 

A child has all the elements of the future man bound 
up in his nature, but time and exercise are required to 
unfold them. That infant, in the arms of its mother, 
may have all the great elements of mind, necessary for 
the future Greneral, Statesman, Philosopher, Astronomer, 
Poet, Logician, Painter, Musician, Historian, or Me- 
chanic; but years must roll away, and many remarj^able 
events occur to that child and to the world, ere those 
talents are matured, known, appreciated, and called forth 
into action. 

Moses, when a child, possessed most of those constitu- 
ent powers of mind, essential to the devoted patriot oi 
philanthropist, the courageous warrior, the successful gene- 
ral, the distinguished legislator, the accurate historian, 
the acute logician, the deep-thinking philosopher,- the 
ardent poet, and, I have thought, the eloquent orator, 
although he did make that humble apology in front of the 
blazing bush : '' Lord, 1 am not eloquent, neither here* 
tofore, nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant : but I am 
slow of speech, and of slow tongue.*' There was a pro- 
mise as well as a rebuke couched in the reply of the 



THE DISCOURAGED ENCOURAGED. 207 

Almighty : '^ Who hath made mans mouth ? Or who 
maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind ? 
Have not I, the Lord ? Now, therefore, go, and I will be 
with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.'' Who 
can doubt the oratory of Moses who has ever read his last 
oration to the Israelites, the substance of which is recorded 
in the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-second, and thirty- 
third chapters of Deuteronomy ? His parents saw the 
future man in the infant child ; but it was by faith only. 
I question whether Moses himself, while watching over a 
flock of sheep in the wilderness of Sinai, had any proper 
perception of his own capabilities. 

Remember, my dear Sir, that the same Lord, who com- 
missioned Moses out of the burning bush, speaks to all 
whom he has called to preach, in language quite as encoura- 
ging : " For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which 
all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.'' 
Luke 21 : 15. If he feel his weakness, and is little in 
his own eyes, all the better ; God will the more freely use 
him then, w^ithout endangering his fall by pride and vanity. 
Let him come forth a trembling but trusting David, against 
the Goliah, sin, and the Lord of hosts will show that he 
can render the feeblest instrumentality mighty and victo- 
rious, when nerved by his almighty power. Let him offer 
battle, all feebleness as he is, and God may compel earth 
and hell to say of him, as was said of one, a couple of 
centuries ago, " that he had broken out like the Irish re- 
bellion, threescore thousand strong, when nobody sus- 
pected it." 

Bear in mind, also, another declaration of Jesus Christ : 
« For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall 
have more abundance." Every gift essential to a '^call 
to the ministry," if faithfully improved, increases in a 
two-fold sense ; first, it is carried to a higher degree of 
perfection. Secondly, it multiplies itself, or rather draws 



208 THE TllIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

down from heaven additional gifts : ^' For tvhosoever 
Tiath^'' that is, improves what he hath, ^^to Mm shall be 
given J and he shall have more abundance.'' Matt. 13: 12*^ 
Estimate not, then, your future success in preaching the 
Gospel, by the measure of your present attainments. Who 
would attempt to estimate with any certainty, the capacity 
and success of the future astronomer, by observing the 
school-boy mastering his '(■ Reading 3Iade Easy V 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

TO THE SAME. — THE CALL RESISTED. 

Hull, April, 1844. 
Dear Brother : 
It sometimes, nay often, happens, that " the door of 
usefulness'' is kept closely shut, while the inward call 
remains. This is always a sore trial. The individual 
thus perplexed, knows not what to do, or which way to 
turn. Everything relative to the outward call is gloomy 
and forbidding ; all within is dark and uncertain. The 
devil's buffetings are then usually the most severe. Once, 
perhaps, the subject of these difficulties was ambitious to 
get on in the world ; that feeling departs from him. His 
energies are crippled ; nor can he advantageously apply 
his mind to anything. Though naturally of an active and 
industrious habit, now he has no heart for business. How 
seldom it is that such a man succeeds in trade ! God 
crosses him in many ways, so that he is often at his wit's 
end, and knows not what to do ; thus circumstanced, were 
it not for the terrors of eternity, his soul would frequently 
choose strangling and death rather than life. Job 7 : 15 



THE CALL RESISTED. 209 

When agony of mind arises to such a pitch as this, it is 
apt to originate from other causes than either a closed 
door^ or the absence of positive usefulness. There may 
be an unwillingness to obey the inward call. Jesus Christ 
may have turned this rod of God, wherewith he may yet 
perform mighty signs and wonders among Egyptian sin- 
ners, into a serpent ; and as he is fleeing before it like 
Moses, God may compel him to take it by the tail. Exod. 
4:4. He may have a hand as ready to wield the axe or 
the hammer, the pen or the pencil, as that of Moses to 
sway the shepherd's crook, while he is unwilling to wield 
the rod of God's power, for the deliverance of redeemed 
souls from a bondage worse than that endured by the 
Israelites under the Egyptian tyrant. Like Moses, too, 
he may be commanded to put that hand into his bosom, 
having notldng for it to do^ and when he would do some- 
what in the way of business, he finds, on drawing it from 
the place of idleness and disobedience, it is ^' leprous as 
snow!'' Active he would be, but not in God's way; 
therefore, his customers are elsewhere ; no one will em- 
ploy his offered hand ; or, if employed, it is somehow good 
for nothing: <>' Leprous as snow.'' Exod. 4 : 6. 

If he attempt, like Jonah, to fly into a strange country 
from the presence of the Lord, he may well adopt, on set- 
ting out, the language of one of old : '' If I, like Jonah, 
should run from thy presence, as unwilling to deliver thy 
message, I must expect a storm to follow me, and either 
the waves to swallow me up, or the whale to swallow me 
down." He will soon find himself in a sea of troubles j 
out of which human help will be powerless to extricate 
him. 

Such cases. Sir, are by no means rare ; they are 

awfully numerous. I am persuaded, from many facts, 

which I cannot now enumerate, that the grand secret of 

the misfortunes of a large number of persons lies here. 

18* 



210 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

This, however, can only be determined by the individual 
himself. '^ For^'' says the apostle, ''what man knoweth 
the things of a man^ save the spirit of man which is in 
himf The secret lies concealed in his own bosom, and 
unfolds itself in a conviction of duty^ which cannot be dis- 
missed nor overlooked. 

St. Paul might well announce the ''woe" that awaited 
him, if he preached not the gospel : " Yea, woe is unto me 
if I preach not the Gospel!'*' Ah! the congregation are 
little aware, when they see a man stand up in the pulpit 
to declare the message of God, how many tears he has 
shed, how many painful struggles he has endured, before 
his pale face dared to appear in a place so awful and so 
sacred ! 

Such trials as I have alluded to, do not, however, always 
arise from a disinclination to obey the call. There may 
be a willingness without a way ; he may, for a long period, 
be hedged in on every side, while he is all the while dis- 
tressed with many and sore temptations ; — tried as by fire. 
But all this may be only a part of that moral discipline, 
which his Lord and Master judges expedient that he should 
endure. It is painfuV^ but essentially necessary^ perhaps^ 
to future usefulness. God designated Moses, and set him 
apart to accomplish that wonderful achievement, the eman- 
cipation of the Israelites from a long and degrading slavery. 
He made the attempt at an early period of his history, but 
it was premature, and failed. He was, at that time, it is 
most probable, lacking both in courage^ self-knowledge^ 
and humility. Pusillanimity ^ ignorance, or pride, might 
possibly have ruined him and his cauv^e, had the Lord em- 
ployed him then. But he allowed him to be hurried out 
of Egypt, and away into a waste howling wilderness. In 
the capacity of an humble shepherd, feeding sheep, not 
his own ; surrounded, perhaps, with many perils which 
nerved his soul with courage. There he was tried, and 



THE CALL RESISTED. 211 

numbled. Forty years long was the Almighty engaged in 
training this remarkable person for the mighty and im- 
portant work to which he was called. When fully pre- 
pared, and not one hour sooner, God commissioned him 
from a hush in flames^ yet unconsumed, and sent him forth 
to endure hardness, as a good soldier of his God, to meet 
the scowl of Pharaoh and his host, with a courage un- 
daunted by all the terrors of his power. You know the 
sequel ; courageous in the greatest perils, faithful amidst 
the fiercest and most alluring temptations, humble when 
crowned with the highest honours ever conferred upon man, 
he liberated an entire nation of people from the grasp of 
their oppressors, led them forth through that very wilder- 
ness which he himself had long ago traversed as a lonely 
shepherd, and brought them to the borders of the promised 
land. Like that bush which he saw unconsumed in flames, 
he still retained his youthful vigour, though at the ad- 
vanced age of one hundred and twenty years ; his eye had 
not waxed dim, nor had his natural strength abated, when 
God "kissed his raptured soul away," from Pisgah's lofti- 
est summit. 

At an earlier period in our world's history, we discover 
a youthful Joseph. How repeated and striking were the 
intimations given him from Heaven, that he was called to 
perform some important work ! But his God allowed him 
to be let down into the horrible pit and miry clay, even by 
his own brethren. Rescued from thence, he was sold by 
them into Egypt. The future saviour of Egypt, of the 
world, in a temporal sense a slave ! Behold him, by the 
false testimony of a lewd and lying woman, cast into a 
gloomy prison. When well humbled^ trained^ and tried of 
the Lord, the Lord of Hosts brought him forth by a way 
of his own choosing, and exalted him to a station in Egypt, 
only second to tliat of the king himself. 

Few, very few, of those who have been eminently sue- 



212 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

cessful in preaching the Gospel, have escaped severe trials 
of one kind or another, either before or after they began to 
'preach. 

Few are, even now, very useful in the Gospel ministry, 
until, by some means, they have been greatly tried. 

To some, a call to preach is, at first, like the little book 
which the angel gave John to eat. Rev. 10 : 10. It was 
sweet as honey in his mouth, but afterwards, it made his 
belly bitter. This is best for some temperaments. 

To some, should the call be at first bitter, they probably 
would never obey. If rendered, in the beginning, '' sweet 
as honey" to the soul, until they are fully out into the field 
of conflict, such would rather die than retreat, even if it 
were made bitter as gall, both by the agency of men and 
devils. 

But, in the case of many others, it is quite different. It 
pleases the Lord to give them much of the bitter at first ; 
afterwards, it is as sweet as honey; or, at most, a mingled 
cup ;: — not unlike the apple mentioned by Seneca, bitterish 
at first, and sweetish at last ; as he expresses it, Pomum 
suave amarum ; — a bitter sweet. 

Trials, such as these, are not only signs and preludes of 
coming good, to the man himself, but they greatly tend to 
qualify him for much usefulness to others. They impart 
to the soul a better capacity to feel, than it otherwise could 
obtain ; they acquaint the mind with the nature of sore 
temptation ; teach lessons, the most important, on Christian 
experience ; they enlarge his acquaintance with human 
nature, by giving him a deeper insight into the workings 
of his own heart ; while they impart to his soul those 
livelg sensibilities and deep sympathies so essential to the 
minister of Jesus Christ. It was upon principles, such as 
these, that St. Paul announced those encouraging views of 
our merciful and faithful High Priest; — that " in all things 
it behoved him to be wade like unto his brethren ; — for, in 



PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 213 

that he himself hath suffered^ being tempted^ he is able also 
to succour them that are tempted,'' Heb. 2: 17, 18. The 
same apostle, it appears, assigned to the various tribula- 
tions he had endured, his own ability to sympathize with 
those who were in any trouble : " Blessed be God, even the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and 
the Crod of all comfort ; who comforteth us in all our tribu^ 
lation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any 
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted 
of aodr 2 Cor. 1: 3, 4. 

It it likely a poet refers to the same, where he says, — 

** Among my list of blessings infinite, 
Let this stand foremost, that my heart has bled.^* 

A heathen poet, too, was not backward to acknowledge 
the good effects arising from his own personal distresses : — 

*'For I myself, like you, have been distress'd, 
Till heaven afforded me this place of rest ; 
Like you, an alien in a land unknown, 
I learn to pity woes so like my own.'* 

In great haste, I am yours in Christ, J. C. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

TO THE SAME. — PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 

Hull, April, 1844. 
Dear Brother, 
You have not informed me whether you are married. If 
so, that debars you from entering the ministry in the Wes- 
leyan Connexion ; as they receive none but single men as 
candidates for ordination. The reasons are, I believe, 
chiefly of a financial character. 1st. As a safeguard to 



214 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

Conference funds. This is considered a matter of justice 
to old ministers ; as those who have horne the burden and 
heat of the day, should have the first claim to these funds. 
2d. In order to render the support of the more youthful 
part of the ministry as light as possible to the church. 
Justice to the church, is the argument for this ; as a young 
man is not usually so well qualified to do the church that 
service, which a minister of ntaturer talents is capable of 
performing ; therefore, the expenses should be rendered as 
light as the nature of the case will admit of, during the 
first few years of his ministry. 3d. Justice to the candi- 
date himself, both as it regards his studies and his talents ; 
both may be improved to far greater advantage, when the 
individual is unmarried, than when embarrassed with the 
cares of a family. After^ "travelling'' a certain number 
of years, he may marry. There have been some excep- 
tions, in particular cases, but it is seldom the Wesleyan 
authorities deviate from their general rule. On the pro- 
priety of this rule, or whether it does not deprive the 
church of talents which would repay her for any additional 
expense she might incur, were there a little more latitude al- 
lowed in the reception of married men, it is not for me to 
decide. I only state the plain facts of the case, for your 
information and guidance. 

If you are married, or "engaged'' to be married, there 
are three other doors, either of which may open. 1st. You 
can turn your attention to the ministry of another church. 
2d. If you cannot conscientiously do this ; you may offer 
yourself as a local preacher in the Wesleyan church. 3d. 
If this seems against the order of God, emigrate, with your 
wife, to America, where a door may possibly open for you 
to enter the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
I -say not, for a certainty, that you will be received there ; 
but, other things being equal, and your family not too 
large, your being married will not be an insurmountable- 



PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 215 

obstacle. As I have already hinted, I shall not insure 
your reception^ or whether it would be immediate. Much 
would depend upon the nature of your talents, education, 
and usefulness. Besides, your age, and the state of your 
health, would be a consideration ; and whether it would 
be likely your constitution would bear the effects of the 
American climate. Were you to become an acceptable local 
preacher in England, it would be an additional recommend- 
ation in America, while it would afford you an advantageous 
introduction to the pulpits of our church in that country. 

Whatever may be your future destiny in Methodism, 
you must remember, our ministry is not to be approached 
but by a certain path; — it is not to be arrived at but 
by certain steps. I shall say nothing here of literary 
and other qualifications ; but, the steps are, 1st. Member- 
ship ; — a man must become a member of a church, before 
he can be considered one of her regular ministers. 2d. 
An exhorter. He who will become a good preacher, must 
understand first, how to move men by exhortation. It is 
one of the first marks of a call to preach, — this sort of 
out-bursting of the burdened heart, in exhorting lost sin- 
ners to flee from the wrath to come. He who never felt 
anything of this before his ordination, should, unless a 
wonderful change has come over the feelings of the man, 
question greatly whether God ever called him to the work 
of the ministry. 3d. A local preacher. Sometimes the 
oflSce of a class-leader is a providential step, either between 
being a private member, and an exhorter, or between that 
of an exhorter and a local preacher. This is not, how- 
ever, absolutely necessary. A local preacher has no claim 
to any salary from the church. It is understood, he may 
pursue any lawful calling through the week, and preach 
the Gospel on the Sabbath, or any time in the week, where 
the preacher in charge, or Superintendent, may direct. 
Nor should he, or the people to whom he ministers, con- 



216 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

sider this circumstance any disqualification ; as an apostle, 
for a considerable time, earned his bread at a certain law- 
ful trade, and preached the Gospel without charge, 4th. 
A preacher on trial, under the direction of Conference. 
6th. An ordained minister. 

Now, it is for want of properly observing these import- 
ant steps, or gradations into our ministry, that many allow 
themselves to be long and sorely buffeted by Satan. I 
have found numbers who were dis-tressed beyond measure, 
that they could not be allowed to enter the ministry by a 
single step. Again and again they have made efforts, and 
have been repulsed ; and, after wearing out the patience 
of others, as well as their own, they have either backslidden 
from God altogether, or have left the church, or mourned 
and wept, and brooded over the matter in secret places, 
till health has been ruined, and consequently unfitted for 
the great work to which God may have possibly called 
them. Poor souls ! I have compared them to a man 
standing at the bottom of a ladder, with an eye of despair 
intently fixed upon the topmost round ; exclaiming, as he 
gazes upon the desirable position : " It is absolutely neces- 
sary, for the accomplishment of the work I have to do, I 
should ascend ; but to step from the foot of this ladder, 
to the top, is utterly impossible ; therefore, I may as well 
abandon the idea altogether. My master requires a hard 
thing." He may well be discouraged, so long as he con- 
templates to go up by one step. But, let him take one 
step at a time, beginning with the first round, then the 
second, and the third, and so he will find the task quite 
agreeable and easy. Allow me, then, to give you the 
same advice I have offered to others under similar circum- 
stances. Whether you are called of God or not, to preach 
the Gospel, I cannot determine. This is a matter that 
lies between God and your own conscience. If he has 
called you to the work, his mighty arm will make a way 



PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 217 

for you to enter into it. Expect not, however, some 
miraculous interposition, by which your way will be opened 
by a single step ; — I mean, to pass at once, from the posi- 
tion of a private member to that of a minister. The history 
of the church, is, indeed, not without instances of this sort. 
Ambrose, if I remember aright, was elected bishop by the 
authorities of Milan, before he had entered any pulpit, or 
preached a single sermon. He became, not only a bishop, 
but a laborious and successful minister of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We do not hear of any similar instance now, nor 
is it desirable we should ; — I speak with reverence of pro- 
vidential dispensations ; but had not the church of Milan 
been in a ''wrangling state' at that time, the Lord would 
have, no doubt, called Ambrose into the ministry by other 
and regular steps. You must first exercise your gifts in 
exhorting sinners to repentance. The next step is, that 
of a regular local preacher ; thence to Ibhe itinerancy. 
Beware of misunderstanding your call. There are many, 
I verily believe, who enter the ranks as local preachers^ 
who never should have left the ranks of exhorters ; others 
there are who step into the work of the regular ministry, 
who were never called of God to go higher than the local 
ranks. At the same time, I believe it equally true, that 
many remain exhorters, who should be local preachers, 
and not a few continue locals who should itinerate. Now 
these, I consider, are great evils, and should be avoided by 
every man who expects to save his soul alive. In either 
case, the injustice done to the church, as well as to the 
individual himself, is of a most serious character. He 
inflicts an injury on the body of Christ, and upon his own 
soul, with which the Holy Ghost cannot but be grieved. 

My advice, then, is, ponder every step well. If the 

Spirit of God move you, and your heart burns for the 

salvation of sinners, begin immediately. Confer not with 

flesh and blood. Exhort all around you to turn to God. 

19 



218 THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH. 

Fast^ pray^ weep, and agonize ; wield the sword of the 
Spirit, as God giv€S ability. Embrace every proper oppor- 
tunity to do all the good you can, both to the bodies and 
souls of men. Go not to this and the other friend, sounding 
your own trumpet, and declaring yourself called to preach. 
Let them find that out. Make full proof of your call to 
the ministry, "By deeds of noble daring.'' Be careful 
for nothing. Aim at the conversion of sinners. Grapple 
with their consciences by the might of Heaven. If your 
call be from God, sinners will fall before you. Expect 
all manner of evil to be said of you, both by lukewarm, 
and even prudent and good men, and by a wicked world. 
Be patient, humble, holy, loving, kind, and happy. A 
year may pass away thus ; perhaps two ; if longer, why 
should you care, seeing that God himself is blessing your 
labours ? Perhaps you can do far more good now, than 
when the time shall arrive when you are burdened by the 
cares and anxieties of a pastor. Value your privileges 
and improve them.. Your brethren may be slow to believe. 
It may be some time before they will say, " Oome up 
higher.'' You may even meet with opposition from quar- 
ters you do not expect. Your motives may be questioned, 
and your zeal censured. Regard it not. Press forward. 
Let your heart be filled with pure love. Beware of fret- 
fulness, and of a censorious spirit. Be teachable. Re- 
ceive advice ; weigh it well, let it come from whom it may. 
Let conscience and judgment speak ; watch effects ; prove 
all things ; holdfast that which is good. If honour come, 
receive it as from God, and be humbled. Honour shall 
come; for ''they that honour me, shall be honoured,'' is 
the decision of God himself. And again \ " He that wait- 
eth upon his Master, shall be honoured." Pant not after 
popularity, or after any kind of notoriety whatever. If 
it come, let it come ; but let it not be of your own seek- 
ing ; do not run after it. Let it rather arise out of cir- 



PATHS TO USEFULNESS. 219 

cumstances over which you have no control ; from the 
character and style of your preaching and movements, 
which you feel you cannot conscientiously alter ; and from 
the mighty power of God displayed in the conversion of 
sinners. I say again, expect persecution. Meet it all in 
the spirit of love ; but abate not, in the least, your zeal 
and eflForts for God. Go out into the highways and hedges, 
and compel them to come in, that God's house may be 
filled. In due time the authorities of your church will 
acknowledge you, and honour the grace of God in you. 
They will take you by the hand, and place you by divine 
direction, in that position in the church to which you are 
called ; if not, that God, whose you are, and whom you 
serve, will open your way, though, in doing it, he may lay 
opposers in the dust. 

If you approve of these remarks, receive and act upon 
them, and God, even your own God, will bless you. That 
he may bless, keep, and guide you into all his will, is the 
prayer of one who was once but a private member of the 
church ; then, a fiery exhorter, without license or autho- 
rity ; then a licensed exhorter ; next, a local preacher ; 
then, a preacher on trial, subject to the will of Conference ; 
and lastly, an ordained minister of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church of America. 

James Caughey. 



CONTINENTAL LETTEES. 



BY 



Rev. JAMES CAUGHEY. 



19 ♦ (221) 



We noticed these letters in our Introduction to the pre- 
sent volume. Mr. Caughey made two extensive tours 
through various countries in Europe. His observations 
during his first tour are embraced in the following Letters ; 
which the reader will find entertaining and instructive. 



(223) 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 



LETTER I. 

TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND. 

Rotterdam, September 15, 1843. 
Dear Sir : 

According to promise, I snatch a few moments to 
inform you of my safe arrival in Holland. On the evening 
of the day I bade you farewell at Leeds, my friend, the 
Rev. Israel Holgate, and I sailed from Hull in the steamer 
Emerald Isle, for this port. We walked the deck till 
nearly midnight, and many and varied were our emotions 
when losing sight of old England. A heavy swell setting 
into the mouth of the Humber, sent us to our berths, to 
avoid further trouble. There we lay, during eighteen 
hours, sick enough. The weather was fine, with a light 
breeze ahead, but the swell was exceedingly annoying. 
As usual, I was forced to acknowledge the power of my 
old enemies outside ; at last they bankrupted me com- 
pletely, having nothing wherewith to pay the demand 
which came upon me so unmercifully. 

"Misery loves company," says the old proverb. I 
wonder whether the wise head that invented it, was ever 
aboard a reeling vessel, himself sick, and twenty or thirty 

(225) 



226 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

mouths, as wide open as his own, declaring most vocifer- 
ously, and with floods (not of tears), that they neither 
could nor would <' stomach such affronts/' We had not, I 
am thankful to say, so many companions in misery ; but 
one poor fellow, who had just obtained a breathing spell, 
inquired, " Steward, how long before we reach the coast 
of Holland V " In about six hours, Sir/' <' Ah !'' he for- 
lornly exclaimed to himself, " have we yet six hours to 
suffer !" Sea sickness is a severe affair. This morning, 
when we came on deck, we found ourselves in the entrance 
of the river Maze or Mouse. Soon after, our steamer 
entered a large ship canal, eight miles long. The wheels 
were kept in easy motion, lest the agitated waters should 
wear away the banks ; but a rope from the mast, attached 
to six horses, gave us the speed allowed by the authorities. 

We saw little to interest us along this canal, except the 
singular constructions for the defence of the banks, espe- 
cially near the locks. These are faggots, instead of hewn 
stone, laid one upon another, bound together by withy 
twigs, and the whole finished off with a rope of the same 
material. Little Dutch beggars kept pace with the vessel, 
pleading zealously, in a singing tone, and in their own 
language, for an alms. If their heavy wooden clogs 
entangled them in running for pennies thrown ashore, 
none cared to throw them off, even though a mortifying 
tumble allowed a more fortunate neighbour to seize the 
prize. 

Our pilot was a Dutchman, and more sociable than we 
generally find "the man at the helm.'' In language part 
Dutch and part English, he proceeded to lay before me 
things which it was proper I should know about Holland, 
and among the rest, her pilots ; but then, of all that craft, 
most of the talent was condensed in himself; that he was 
remarkable as a steersman, and preferred always to grasp 
the helm himself, rather than give orders ; adding, that it 



TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND. 227 

was no uncommon thing to run the vessel into the bank, 
but that no accident had ever occurred to him yet. 

In due time we emerged out of the canal into another 
branch of the Maze. The steamer ran up the river nobly, 
till within six miles of Rotterdam, when, alas for our 
pilot ! he ran the vessel on a sand-bank. Poor man, he 
was sadly humbled, though none heard our conversation 
but myself. His face reddened to a coal, and in the 
midst of the excitement, he tried all his ingenuity to get 
her off, but in vain. He scarcely knew what to do with 
himself, till one or two pilot-boats came alongside, and we 
had a full Dutch concert, which ended, I believe, in a 
greater harmony of opinion, than when it began ; — in full 
accordance with the decision of Quintilian : — '^ A pilot 
cannot be denied his lawful plea, dum clavum rectum 
teneam ; though the ship be cast away and drowned, he is 
not to make satisfaction, so long as he held the stern right, 
and guided it by the compass." Captain and passengers 
were overpowered into a sullen silence by the men of sci- 
ence outside, who decided unanimously in favour of their 
brother pilot, and against the prevalence of easterly winds, 
which had run the river down with the tide, unusually 
low ; no vessel having in the memory of man gone aground 
in the same place. It was then agreed we should be set 
ashore in the small boats, and our pilot, relieved from his 
embarrassment, resolved to see us ashore, and show us at 
least his skill among the reeds and rushes of a winding 
creek. In a short time, headed by the captain, we were 
footing it along one of the lofty dykes towards Rotterdam. 
We met a company of Dutch ladies, who eyed our party 
very closely, and removing to a prudent distance, they 
raised a hearty laugh at our expense. Some of the com- 
pany returned the compliment, considering their clumsy 
and grotesque appearance in far greater contrast with 
English ladies, than ours could possibly be with Dutchmen. 



228 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Our walk was delightful ; never have I breathed so sweet 
or balmy an atmosphere. At Schiedam we took the dili- 
gence, and arrived at Rotterdam about one o'clock, p. M., 
just forty-two hours from Hull. 

After dinner, we visited the old Cathedral, or Church 
of St. Lawrence. It was once a Romish church, but is 
now devoted to the services of the reformed religion, and 
of course all the fripperies of popery have happily disap- 
peared. From the summit of the tower, a large square 
mass, with bold projections, and an unfinished and ruin- 
ous top, we had a most commanding view. Standing as 
we were in the centre of South Holland, our eye, the day 
being very clear, swept an amazing circle ; nearly the 
whole of South Holland. The cities of Dort, Delft, The 
Hague, and numerous villages, lay around us, with exten- 
sive canals, and winding rivers, of various sizes. 

Rotterdam in its glory lay beneath, in the form of a 
triangle. Its canals, like arteries running through the 
centre of great streets, bordered with lofty trees ; — oaks, 
elms, and lime-trees, all clothed in the greenest foliage, 
and most of the shipping interspersed in every direction 
through the city ; these, with the smaller canals, which we 
compared to veins, and the draw-bridges, white and ele- 
vated, gave to the town an effect beautifully picturesque. 
The interior of the Cathedral is plain to excess, but noble 
in design, with a "vaulted roof that seemed another sky." 
The organ is a powerful and rich-toned instrument, and the 
largest I have ever seen ; intended, it is said, to rival that 
of Haarlem, but it is considered^ in that respect, a failure. 
The pulpit is a pretty structure, with a sounding board, in 
the centre of which are two lamps ; the light streaming 
down through a circular transparency upon the Bible, must 
have a very fine effect at night. 

This evening, we walked down to the quay, in expecta- 
tion of the arrival of our steamer, with the baggage. These 



TO A miEND IN AxMERICA. 229 

Steamboats have not been more perplexing to the Dutch 
pilots, by the rapidity of their motions, than the oddity of 
the name to Dutch linguists. The men of other nations 
hailed the ^'self-moving wonder" with delight, and in- 
stinctively named it '' steamboat ;" the Hollanders were 
in a plight with their language, finding no adjective therein, 
for so noble a noun, but ruik or damp ; and were com- 
pelled to coin a word, aided by a side glance at the Eng- 
lish, and called it a stoom boat. The Germans were more 
independent, and launched out a DampfscJiiff ! The stoom 
boat at last came up, and we had our luggage conveyed to 
the hotel. 

My soul enjoys great peace and rest in the love of God. 
Affectionately your brother in Jesus Christ our Lord, 

J. C. 



LETTER IL 

TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 



The Hague, Holland, 
(Saturday night,) September 16, 1843. 
Dear Sii', 

My last was dated in Leeds, in which I informed you 
of my intention to visit Holland, and a few other nations 
on the Continent of Europe ; which you will perceive was 
put into speedy execution, as I left the shores of England 
before that letter started for America. 

Providence kindly favoured me with the company of the 
Rev. Israel Holgate, a Wesleyan minister, who is travel- 
ling for the benefit of his health. 

I think it proper to mention this now, as the word we^ 
may occur very often in this communication. It is a very 
20 



230 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

significant little pronoun, and when unexplained, rather a 
suspicious one, when found in the descriptive peregrina- 
tions of a bachelor cosmopolite ! We sailed from Hull by 
a steamer, on the 13th instant, and arrived at Rotterdam 
yesterday. 

Rotterdam is situated on the right bank of the softly 
flowing river Maze. The city is built in the form of a 
triangle, the base being the grand Quay, extending nearly 
a mile. This Quay is called Boomtjes^ or '^ the little trees ;'* 
— not little now, as they are the grow^th of centuries ; — fine 
rows of lofty elms, which shade the entire extent. We only 
spent about twenty hours in Rotterdam ; but, with the ex- 
ception of a short time in sleep, we were on our feet, per- 
ambulating the streets in all directions, inspecting every- 
thing that was new and interesting. The streets are neatly 
paved, and are perfectly clean ; but the side-walks are irk- 
some to a stranger. They are made of thin brick, called 
clinkers, set edgeways ; this is well enough, but they are 
narrow, and on a level with the street, and no defence for 
the foot passenger, against the encroachment of carriage 
wheels, which are w^hirling past a few inches from his un- 
protected feet. 

Rotterdam contains a population of seventy-five thou- 
sand souls, is considered only second to Amsterdam, and 
the most important place in all the northern Netherlands. 

There is the appearance of wealth, both in the size and 
finish of the buildings. The streets are generally wide 
and elegant, but nearly all divided into two, by a large 
canal, bordered with luxuriant trees, and crowded with 
shipping ; along them is an incessant bustle. 

The houses are mostly modern ; many of them quaint 
and singular in architecture ; not a few are Spanish in 
style. They are principally of brick, and the perpetual 
washings they receive daily, with mopping and scrubbing, 
have imparted to them a dark polish, which looks on the 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 231 

whole rather pretty. A gentleman might well remark, 
" The houses of these Dutchmen are as neat, externally, 
as paint and water can make them." It is said they are 
not less so in the interior. We were informed, that such 
is the polish given to the floors, by continual scrubbing, 
that a stranger cannot w^alk upon them without danger of 
an upset. We ran, however, no risk of that kind, as there 
was nothing of the sort very remarkable in our hotel. 

Rotterdam is certainly the cleanest place I have ever 
visited, and presents a wonderful contrast to the stagnant 
canals of this Hague. The effluvium is sometimes almost 
unbearable. 

There are several circumstances which secure to Rotter- 
dam constant purity of atmosphere. 1st, The Maze spreads 
through the city several creeks ; these communicate with 
smaller canals, which intersect the town. 2d, The ebbing 
and flowing of the tide, which keeps all these arteries and 
veins clear and pure. 3d, The little river Rotte insists ^ 
upon a passage through the very heart of the city. The 
Hague is destitute of such physic, and nothing but the 
providence of God can preserve the inhabitants from an 
annual epidemic. Almost every house in Rotterdam is 
accommodated with single or double looking-glass reflec- 
tors, placed outside the first floor window, by which the 
good ladies inside may have a full view of the entire street, 
and every object which honours it with a visit. 

You are aware that Rotterdam is the native city of 
Erasmus. Near the Cathedral is the house in which he 
resided. In a niche between two windows, in the upper 
tier, is a small statue of him, under which is the following 
inscription, S^cec est parva domiis magnus qua natus Eras- 
mus, Strange as it may appear, this house is now a petty 
tavern. * 

From our rooms in the hotel, we noticed another fine 
bronze statue of this eminent man. It is ten feet high, 



232 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

and stands upon a pedestal encompassed with an iron bal- 
ustrade. What the motive could be which led them to 
place this grave divine on the centre of a bridge, amid the 
bustle of the great market-place, we did not learn ; per- 
haps to stimulate the traders to honesty and religion, by a 
remembrance of his virtues and piety. 

The Reformer is represented in a flowing ecclesiastical 
costume, his head covered with a three-cornered hat, and 
eyes intently fixed upon a large open volume, spread across 
his hands, as a representative, we were informed, of the ten 
folios he had written. Two hundred and twenty-one years 
have passed away since this monument was erected to his 
memory ; and cast, as it was, from a model taken during the 
conflict of the Reformation, it may be considered a good 
likeness. Approaching the statue, and looking upon those 
fine expressive features, we revered the memory of one, to 
whose talents, learning, and zeal, after all that has been 
said of his wavering timidity, our Protestantism is so greatly 
indebted. 

He w^as Luther's forerunner, and broached those great 
principles which afterwards animated that illustrious Re- 
former. Boldly, by the eloquence of pen and tongue, did 
he attack the errors and superstitions of the Church of 
Rome, and even the tyranny, ambition, avarice, impious 
frauds, and excesses of the Roman clergy, before Luther 
had dared to throw down the gauntlet of defiance against 
Pope and Popery. Hence the homely, but very old adage, 
^'Luther hatched the egg which Erasmus had laid.'' 

When the former began his career, Erasmus applauded 
his conduct, defended his character, and insisted that his 
writings should be combated by Scripture and solid argu- 
ment, instead of suppression by a fierce authority. His 
position, however, between the bitter Papists on the one 
hand, and ardent Reformers on the other, was most em- 
barrassing. AVith the latter he had sentiments perfectly 



TO A FKIENJ) IX AMERICA. 233 

similar ; but shrank from their violent hostilities against 
the Church of Rome. When urged to espouse their cause, 
he candidly confessed his want of courage to die a martyr ; 
and when hotly pressed to wield his pen against the here- 
tics, he replied, " Nothing is more easy than to call Luther 
a blockhead ; nothing less easy than to prove him one ; at 
least so it seems to me." 

Being naturally cautious and timid, the very opposite of 
Luther's impetuous and undaunted temperament, fearing 
persecution, and hoping, at the same time, for a reforma- 
tion by gentler methods, he graduated from recommenda- 
tions to moderation, into an opposition which excited the 
alarm of even Luther himself. "We saw," says Luther, 
in a spirited letter to Erasmus, at this juncture, — "We 
saw the Lord had not conferred on you the discen-nient 
and resolution to join us, and openly expose those mon- 
sters ; therefore dared not exact from you what greatly 
surpassed your strength and papacity. We have even 
borne with your weakness, and honoured that portion of 
the gift of God that is in you. — On the other hand, my 
dear Erasmus, if you duly reflect on your own imbecility, 
you will abstain from these sharp and spiteful figures of 
rhetoric ; and if you cannot, or will not defend our senti- 
ments, you will let them alone, and treat of subjects which 
suit you better." 

Erasmus had his frailties in the above respects ; but his 
extensive and profound learning, the benefits accruing to 
sound literature by his writings, his love of rational liberty 
and free inquiry, enmity to persecution, ignorance, and 
bigotry, which he opposed during the greater part of his 
eventful life, and his decided piety, elevate him among the 
principal ornaments of the age in which he lived, while he 
is justly regarded as the glory of his native city. 

About one hundred and fifty years ago, this statue, in 
a time of general anarchy in Holland, was well nigh de- 
20^ 



234 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

struction. The costume, resembling that of a Romish 
priest, exasperated the ignorant insurgents, who had it 
taken to the town-hall for the purpose of being broken in 
pieces, where it was with difficulty purchased by the city 
authorities. It was then replaced on the present pedestal, 
where it has since remained. 

Some have imagined an indication of a spirit of raillery, 
in a slight turn up of the nose. Close study and intense 
thought have left their impress upon his manly counte- 
nance ; his mouth and eyes, though cast down, and his 
general features, are such as would lead one easily to con- 
ceive how genius, eloquence, and wit might " hold high 
revelry'' there : — 

*' Like shade ancheunshine o'er a field, 
Ripe in harvest breezes waving." 

The gtrod Dutch ladies exercised their scrubbing and 
polishing propensities upon this statue during many years. 
Nothing would do, but his face must shine like the sun. 
At last the magistrates got alarmed, fearing such perpe- 
tual washings might injure the likeness, and put a stop to 
them. 

The squares of the pedestal have several Latin inscrip- 
tions, but the southern one in Dutch, is by far the most 
touching : — 

** Here rose the great star, which set at Bale, 
Let the imperial town honour the saint in his tomb, 
The town which gave him his birth, gives him his second life. 
But the torch of language, the acme of manners, — the brilliant wonder. 
Of which charity, peace, and holy erudition, are the ornament. 
Are not satisfied with the honours of a mausoleum or of a statue, 
The sacred dome alone is a covering worthy of Erasmus, 
No more limited space can serve him as a temple." 

We are as yet uncertain whether we shall visit Switzer- 
land, but should we do so, and the pilgrimage be not too 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 235 

far, we shall certainly see his tomb in the Cathedral of 
Bale. 

We left Rotterdam by diligence this morning, and rode 
eight miles to the ancient town of Delft, famous for its 
manufacture of earthenware, called " Delft ware," and 
noted as the birth-place of Hugo Grotius. 

There is an air of uncommon quiet in this town, which 
surprised us, as it contains 15,000 inhabitants. Like all 
the towns in Holland, it is intersected by canals, and the 
streets and side-walks are as clean as brooms and water 
can make them. The trees are so numerous, the people 
seem to reside in a pleasant grove. 

We spent a couple of hours in the churches. The first 
of importance to us, was that which contained the ashes of 
Grotius. There is a handsome monument raised over his 
tomb, of white marble. The sculpture is executed in good 
taste. A medallion, representing the head of this great 
man, the Holy Bible, and a manuscript, occupy one side ; 
a child appears on the other, leaning upon an urn, and in 
the act of extinguishing an inverted torch; beneath the 
whole, an elegant Latin inscription. 

The remains of Grotius were brought from Rostock, 
where he expired, immediately after his return from the 
court of Christina, Queen of Sweden, in 1645. I re- 
member reading, some years ago, an amusing account of 
his escape from the castle of Louvestein. His wife, Maria 
Van Reygersbergen, a lady of great learning and accom- 
plishments, and most tenderly attached to her husband, 
was the instrument. After he had been there two years, 
this discerning woman, observing negligence on the part 
of the guard, with respect to the great chest filled with 
linen and books for Gorcum, allowing it to pass frequently 
without being opened, advised her husband to place him- 
self within it, and trust in Providence, and her good man- 
agement, for deliverance. Having ingratiated herself in 



236 CONTINEKTAL LEMERS. 

a more than ordinary manner with the Governor's wife, she 
obtained permission, during his absence one day, to have 
removed from her husband's apartment, a quantity of 
books, which he had borrowed from a friend in Gorcum. 

Grotius entered into the scheme of his wife, placed him- 
self in the box, she having made holes with a wimble in 
the part above his face to allow him to breathe. This was 
a critical period in his history ; as much so perhaps as that 
of St. Paul, when he was let down from a window in a 
basket, and escaped from the hands of his persecutors. 
The box was safely and in daylight conveyed out of the 
castle, not without imminent danger of his being drilled 
through the body, in consequence of the porters who car- 
ried him down stairs, suspecting the box held a more valu- 
able treasure than it was said to contain. 

Having obtained liberty, he passed through Holland in 
the garb of a stone mason, with a rule in his hand ; his 
wife in the mean time managing the matter most ingeni- 
ously, till sure he was out of all danger, and then inform- 
ing the guards that the bird was flown. She then found 
herself a lonely prisoner indeed, as nothing was thought of 
but perpetual confinement for the daring wife ; but her 
enemies became ashamed, and she was set free with honour 
instead of blame. Think me not romantic, if I send you 
the following lines ; for I am sure the heroine of my story 
deserves them : — 

<* Oh ! woman's heart is like the rose, 

That glows beneath the tropics' flame, 
That blooms as sweet 'mid northern snows, 

For ever lovely and the same. 
Whate'er her rank, whate'er her lot, 

Where'er her gentle influence ranges, 
* The art to bless is ne'er forgot, 

The will to comfort never changes." 

Grotius fled into France, where, as afterwards in other 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 237 

countries of Europe, he was patronized and honoured. His 
countrymen, who neglected him in exile, hearin'g of his 
death, and aroused by the voice of nations in his praise, 
claimed the honour of his birth. A medal was ordered to 
be struck to his memory, on which he was styled, ^< The 
Oracle of Delft — the Phoenix of his Country." 

After taking a turn through the edifice, " Where words 
like ancient chronicles, lie scattered o'er the walls,'' we 
returned to the tomb of Grotius ; and while engaged in 
transcribing the epitaph, peals from the solemn organ fell 
upon our ears with powerful efi*ect. 

Imagine to yourself two solitary strangers standing by 
the tomb of a great and good man, alone, within the im- 
mense area of a cathedral, surrounded with the monuments 
of the mighty dead. A benevolent, but viewless one, sud- 
denly touches a powerful instrument, and " arch and aisle 
re-echo with celestial melody." The tones descending from 
what has somewhere been called the "thunder chime," 
gliding away faintly, but soft and thrillingly sweet : — 

** Low as the sound when gentle pity pleads, 
Or lone remembrance mourns the cherish' d past." 

A pause — and the music is here again, and comes down 
upon the ear, soothing 'the inmost of the soul, elevating 
the mind to loftier views of God and religion. Again, 
borne on "the organ's living breath," the melodies difliise 
themselves throughout the house of God, sweeping the 
awful aisles and stately columns, and warbling into far 
away echoes ; — the thoughts of the strangers are carried 
homeward and heavenward. Reproved by " the flight of 
time," they bade adieu to the ashes of Grotius, and retired 
amid the closing strains, and with sentiments not unlike 
those of your own poet : — 



238 contine:nTal letters. 

** From the boundless realms of viewless space, 
These choral symphonies arise, 
From the thousand spheres of the starry world, 
To the Maker of earth and skies." 

When we came out, two boys were in waiting to conduct 
us to another church, the name I forget, but Protestant 
also. Had you been witness to our ragged escort, their 
violent gestures, and the clangour of their Dutch vocabu- 
lary, keeping time with the rattling of their clogs along 
the pavement, it would have been quite enough for your 
gravity. Mr. H. insisted they should leave us. This was 
attended with another volley of Dutch, and a fresh uproar 
of clogs, which broke on the death-like silence of the 
streets, like a row ; their arms in the mean time flinging 
about most violently, indicating that the good gentlemen 
must not leave their native town without seeing everything 
of importance, and that they were well qualified, and cheap 
withal. " Cheap ! Why, you will have the whole popula- 
tion of the street around us !" Again they were peremp- 
torily ordered away, and received money to that effect, 
which they seemed to understand better than our language ; 
but it was of no use, guides we should and must have. It 
is not unlikely I was the cause of prolonging the affair, as 
it was utterly impossible to "' keep the risibilities in order," 
from which they inferred, *' One of the party at least, is 
willing,'' and their whole artillery of persuasion was level- 
led at my friend. At last, Mr. H. succeeded in raising 
his English quite as high as their Dutch, and, after ex- 
changing glances, signifying, " You may depend upon it 
he is in earnest ;" they retreated to a convenient distance, 
and then followed us with the full chorus of their clogs. 
By the time we had reached the church, the solemnities of 
our late musical sympathies were well nigh merged in the 
comic. 

The second religious "edifice we visited was a fine old 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 239 

building of the thirteenth century, decorated with many 
monuments, some to the memory of eminent men. 

We were particularly struck with that of Admiral Van 
Tromp. The hero reposes in marble, with all his glories 
around him — laurels, composed of sea-shells, and naval 
decorations exquisitely arranged. The whole is an eflFect 
of sculpture truly surprising, and being a national expres- 
sion of gratitude, shows how^ highly his country estimated 
his services. He was the victorious hero, it seems, of 
thirtv-two naval combats ; and the victor in the famous 
battle of the Downs, in 1652. It is recorded of him, that 
he traversed the British Channel with a broom at his mast- 
head, signifying that he had swept the English from the 
seas ; but, alas ! for him, the English were still afloat, and 
brushed him into eternity some time after in a dreadful 
sea fight, near the shores of Holland. 

Another, to the memory of Vice-Admiral Peit Hein ; 
hje who captured San Salvador, with eleven millions of 
Spanish money, and who was afterwards killed near Dun- 
kirk. This is likewise a superb monument of white marble. 
His statue, armour, pillow, and mat upon which he lies, are 
of the same material, and are astonishing triumphs of the 
chisel. His mother was living at tlie time of his death. 
A deputation from the States of Holland waited upon her 
to express their condolence. The good woman, still re- 
taining the simplicity of her character, notwithstanding 
the many honours conferred upon her son, replied, " I 
always predicted that he would die like a rascal." 

There is a touching incident in the records of the town, 
which is not unworthy of notice. From time immemorial, 
storks have annually visited Delft, and during their sum- 
mer stay built their nests in turrets and chimneys. About 
three hundred years ago, a terrible fire broke out, which 
consumed many buildings. While the conflagration was 
in its fury, several storks were observed making efforts to 



240 CONTINENTAL LETTEKS. 

save their young from the general destruction ; but some, 
unable to bear them across the burning gulf, dropped down 
with their precious burden into the flames. This affecting 
circumstance formed a fine theme for the Dutch poets. 

After dinner we rode forward to the Hague, three miles, 
beneath the shade of luxuriant trees. To the right, we 
had handsome villas, gardens, and green meadows ; on the 
left, a large canal, the " great thoroughfare to the capital," 
and some pretty view^s on the opposite side. 

On our arrival here this afternoon, we hired a guide, 
who, in his anxiety to get a few stivers, gave us to under- 
stand, he could ^^make quite free with English," which 
was indeed a fact: ^^ A ridiculous collection," said one, 
" of the heads, legs, wings, and tails of English w^ords, 
mingled together with all the confusion of a giblet pie." 
Next to a heavy purse, every traveller should be well 
stocked with patience ; by drawing largely upon which, we 
extracted from the gibberish of our commissionaire suffi- 
cient to render our walk through the city tolerably agree- 
able. 

The Hague, for the magnificence of its palaces, squares, 
and streets, together with the pleasantness of its situation, 
has long been ranked among the most handsome cities of 
Europe. The soil on w^hich it stands is drier and more 
elevated than that of most other towns in Holland, and 
would have a purer and healthier atmosphere, but for its 
stagnant canals, the dirtiest I have yet seen. They are 
covered with a green scum, and where the sun ranges fully 
upon them, the stench is almost intolerable. 

We were very desirous to see the place where the vene- 
rable Barneveldt was beheaded. This able statesman was 
the warm friend of Arminius, and sided with the Armi- 
nians against the Calvinists, in those furious religious dis- 
putes, which distracted Holland in the beginning of the 
seventeenth century. The Calvinists were extremely in- 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 241 

tolerant, and had great political power, which they wielded 
fatally against Barneveldt. Soon after the celebrated 
Synod of Dort, 1618, the signal was given for vengeance. 
Charges were brought against him which never could have 
been sustained, had not the court been almost entirely 
composed of his enemies ; and he was capitally condemned. 
He received his sentence with great firmness, and behaved 
in the interval like a true Christian. Prince Maurice ex- 
pected his family would sue for pardon, but this they 
despised, as that would imply guilt. He w^alked to the 
place of execution, leaning upon his staff. When arrived 
at the fatal block, nature started back, but, raising his 
eyes to heaven, he cried, '' God, what is man!" He 
then joined in prayer with a minister, and arose with the 
sweetest tranquillity upon his countenance, desired the 
executioner to do his duty. His head was severed with 
one blow ; and thus perished, in the seventy-second year 
of his age, a firm and eloquent advocate of religious free- 
dom and moderation. When the States of Holland regis- 
tered his death, they added these words : '^ He was a man 
of great conduct, industry, memory, and prudence ; yes, 
singular in all. Let him who standeth take heed lest he 
fall. God be merciful to his soul ! Amen." I have read 
a touching anecdote of the admirable conduct of his widow. 
After their father's death, his two sons, -Reinier and Wil- 
liam, entered into a conspiracy to avenge his death, by 
attempting the life of Prince Maurice. The plot was dis- 
covered, William fled the country, but Reinier was taken, 
and sentenced to the death of his father. His mother 
threw herself at the feet of the prince, and begged his 
life. ''It appears strange," said Maurice, ''that you do 
that for your son, which you refused to do for }- our hus- 
band." To which she nobly replied, " I did not ask par- 
don for my husband, because he was innocent ; I ask it 
for my son, because he is guilty." The steps where the 
21 



242 CO]STINENTAL LETTERS. 

scaffold stood, lead into a large Gothic room, where the 
States-General formerly legislated for the United Prov- 
inces. It is a fine hall, one hundred and twenty-five feet 
long, sixty wide, and sixty-six high, but is no more used 
for that purpose. The ceiling or roof is of cedar, unsup- 
ported by any cross beams. The wood has the singular 
property of repulsing insects, and no cobwebs have ever 
been seen upon it. The hall has a lonely and deserted 
aspect ; as if the voice of a brother's blood continued to 
ascend from its desolate walls. 

From thence we walked to the famous '' Wood of 
the Hague;" it is considered by some as unequalled in 
Europe, and some say the world, but having rambled 
through American woods, I demur. At any rate, the 
Hollanders insist it is the eighth wonder of the world. 

It is nearly two English miles long, and about a mile 
in breadth, the whole laid out in walks, and other adorn- 
ments ; such as basins of water, reposing in the deepest 
solitudes ; and canals, crossed by rustic bridges, which do 
some credit to the taste of the citizens. It is a delicious 
retreat, and free for all who wish to enjoy its quiet. It is 
entered by a lofty and beautiful avenue of trees. At the 
extremity of the wood is a handsome pavilion, occasionally 
the residence of the King of Holland. 

This wood, at a time of great public necessity, in 1576, 
was doomed to fall, but the moment the citizens heard of 
the decree, they rushed into the Hall of Assembly, and 
demanded why their ^'sacred grove" should be destroyed. 
When they learned that money to assist the republic was 
the object, the required sum was raised immediately. The 
wood has flourished unhurt amid all the revolutions of 
Holland, though hostile armies have marched through 
it. It is recorded to the honour of Philip 11. , that during 
the great war with Spain, he issued a mandate to his 
army for its preservation. 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 243 

You may wish to know how I enjoyed my first Sabbath 
in Holland. Of course we could not preach, as we could 
find none who understood our language. In the forenoon 
we attended divine service in the Protestant church, and 
heard a very energetic preacher in Dutch, which of course 
we did not understand. The congregation was large and 
attentive, and there appeared evidently an unction attend- 
ing the word. We felt surprised and annoyed to see the 
majority of the audience sitting with their hats on during 
the sermon, but the moment the minister had closed and 
knelt in prayer, all were uncovered. 

After prayer, he gave out a psalm. The tune was com- 
menced by a fine organ, and immediately the whole con- 
gregation united with one universal voice ; — all sang, men, 
women, and children, back to the very door where we 
stood. Poor, ignorant looking men, seemed to feel per- 
fectly at home, and raised their voices on high. We were 
quite unprepared for such a burst of melody, and felt if 
good to be there. 

At the close of the service we stood at the gate, and 
were delighted to see young and old with a Bible in their 
hand. Such a display of Bibles we had never before seen. 
Popery can never again prevail in Holland, so long as its 
inhabitants retain an attachment, such as this, to the Holy 
Scriptures. 

After a short period, we returned to the same church, 
and heard another minister preach to the troops, but he 
seemed a feeble man, with much less zeal and unction 
than the former minister. 

Afi*ectionately your brother in Christ Jesus our Lord, 

J. C. 



244 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 



LETTER III. 

TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 

Amsterdam^ Sept. 19, 1843. 
Ever dear Friend, 
A POET, with whose writings you are well acquainted, 
has left us his practical experience in the following lines : — 

**Eje nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies, 
And catch the living manners as they rise. 
Laugh where you may, be candid where you can, 
But vindicate the ways of God to man." 

I fear, however, my observations upon human character 
will of necessity be very lean during this tour; for two 
reasons : first, our inability to converse with the inhabitants 
in their own language ; and second, the hasty manner in 
which we are compelled to fly from place to place. By 
the former, we are excluded from the minds of the people ; 
consequently, we can know just nothing of their views on 
moral and religious subjects ; and by the latter, we are 
prohibited from making those correct observations upon 
their manners and customs, which a longer stay would 
afford. I have other and better work to do than to waste 
time in learning Dutch ; and the salvation of poor sinners, 
where they understand my tongue, would be more certain 
than any good resulting from time spent in such specula- 
tions. You are aware, I have retreated from England for 
a short relaxation from severe labour; nevertheless, I will 
endeavour to fulfil your desire, by furnishing '^a short 
description of cities and scenery, together with all that 
may strike you as interesting in architecture, sculpture, 
painting, &c." This I shall attempt, but dare not pursue 
it so as to cause exhaustion, lest I defeat the purpose of 
my tour. You and my friends in * * * must read my 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 245 

superficial descriptions, more as the amusements of a rest- 
less mind, to which inax^tion is unhappiness, rather than 
an anxious attempt to appear as a literary character. 

Circumstanced as I have related, with regard to inter- 
course with the inhabitants, we have more time to devote 
to what is curious in the works of man, and to notice more 
closely the sublime or beautiful in those of God. 

I assure you we have had an eye upon " nature's walks," 
and although we have had but a few shots at ''folly as it 
flies,'' we have taken " pencil-aim" at every object within 
the circle of our vision, and shall now transmit to you the 
game, such as it is. I fear you will think some of my 
descriptions are rather overstrained ; and I confess, had I 
anything more to do than copy my penciUings, now that 
the scenes of the past few days have partially faded from 
my imagination, some of the descriptions would, it is most 
lilvcly, be of a different character. You must therefore 
receive my hotel, street, diligence, railway, and steamboat 
pencillings as they are ; I have no time to amend them, or 
write anything better. 

On Monday, 18th, we left the Hague, by diligence, for 
Leyden, and after ridino; over several miles of uninterest- 
ing country, we arrived at a railway depot, lonely as a 
cottage in a wilderness. Here we had our baggage (a car- 
pet-bag and small trunk) weighed, ticketed, and paid for. 
It is a pitiful sight to see so many men spending their time 
in such a paltry manner, weighing a travelling bag, band- 
box, or bundle, with the same gravity they would a ton of 
merchandise, demanding the cent too for the extra pound, 
and with a business-like face, as if the freightage had been 
a dozen of guilders. One man .weighed my carpet-bag, 
another sang the number of pounds, a gentleman penned 
all neatly down in an office book, another clever man sent 
forth a ticket to be carefully pasted on the bag, and a 
similar one, was handed to me for safe-keeping. And I 
2i ^ 



246 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

paid my stiver (a penny), while two able-bodied men con- 
ducted it to its destination, weight about 601bs. From 
thence we had to thread our way to a separate office to pay 
personal fare. '• Make haste, the horn is sounding for a 
start !" It is enough to make one nervous, but there is no 
necessity for it ; nobody else seems in a hurry, and why 
should we ? These locomotive-steeds and steamboats, which 
have made Englishmen and Americans as nimble as bees, 
have no effect whatever on the motions of a Dutchman. 
He smokes his pipe, and moves about with easy sublimity, 
enveloped in " fragrant perfume." It is not till he is 
fairly under weigh, leaving a stripe of steam and tobacco 
smoke behind him, that one inclines to believe the old story 
of the '' Flying Dutchman" is "founded on fact." We 
paid our bill, a few stivers, and in five or six minutes were 
at our destination, outside the walls of Ley den. 

A short ride in an omnibus brought us to an hotel, and, 
after arranging matters, we sallied out on a visit to the 
University. On our way there, we walked over an open 
space in the heart of the city, called The Ruin, once 
thickly covered with houses. We were informed, that 
about thirty-six years ago, a vessel, on its passage from 
Amsterdam to Delft, containing forty thousand pounds of 
gunpowder, paused a few moments in the canal, and blew 
up like a volcano. One hundred and fifty persons lost their 
lives, among whom were two professors of the University. 
The cause remains, to the present day, a mystery ; and 
since the catastrophe none will build there. The area, 
about three acres in extent, is now partly covered with 
thriving trees, and affords a pleasant but solemn promenade 
for the inhabitants. 

The University, to which we had ready admittance, has 
nothing imposing about it, either as to architecture, or iur 
ternal arrangements. The Theological Hall was an object 
of interest. In this place Armi^ius examined the student§i 



TO A FRIEND IX AMERICA. 247 

in theology. Upon the table are two large volumes, — a 
folio Greek Testament, dated 1583, and a Latin Bible, 
1618 ; the former, most likely, the identical one from 
which he called forth his proofs, in support of that power- 
ful battery he had erected against Calvinism: "That the 
merits of Christ extend to all mankind, and that the grace 
of God, which is necessary to salvation, is attainable by 
all.'' Here, in this very Hall, did he deliver his lectures, 
in the hearing of clergy, students, and the public ; while 
anathemas were beinf]: hurled aorainst him from all the Cal- 
vinistic ramparts of Holland. 

Close by the first battery, he planted another, in oppo- 
sition to the spirit of the times : " Christians are account- 
able to God alone, for their religious sentiments ; nor has 
any magistrate a just right to punish any individual for 
his religious opinions, so long as he refrains from disturbing 
the peace and order of civil society.'' 

His enemies were almost as violent against the latter as 
the former. Supported by the grace of God, and his 
motto. Bona conscientia paradisus, ''A good conscience is 
a paradise," he maintained his positions nobly ; and, at a 
period, too, when persecution was carried " unto the 
death." Many of the clergy, and a vast number of the 
laity, received the truth, and espoused it with becoming 
ardour. 

Here, also, Episcopius, who had embraced the opinions 
of Arminius, taught theology. This learned and eloquent 
man systematized the opinions of that eminent professor. 
He set them forth, at the same time, with an elegance so 
charming, defended by an array of Scripture so convinc- 
ing and powerful, that they aroused the fury of his ene- 
mies, while they fastened conviction upon the minds of those 
who were willing to be convinced. 

At length the storm from which Arminius had escaped 
to Heaven, in 1609, burst upon the head of Episcopius. 



248 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

lie was one of the small party of ministers, who appeared 
amidst a host of Calvinistic professors, from the seven 
United Provinces, in the famous Synod of Dort. The mi- 
nority^ who had come to confer with the majority, were 
informed that the latter, instead of discussion, demanded 
" implicit submission to their decisions." It was in vain 
that Episcopius, in an able and temperate address, laid 
open the great principles involved in the subjects of de- 
bate ; stating that he and his brethren were ready to dis- 
cuss, fairly and fully, the points in which they differed 
from the Synod. The reply was, that the Arminians could 
not be permitted to defend or explain their opinions, ex- 
cept so far as the Synod thought proper, — that debate was 
disallowed in that assembly, — and that they must consider 
themselves in the character of criminals^ rather than 
judges. 

Against these shameful measures, Episcopius and his . 
brethren protested. This was what their enemies desired, 
and they were expelled from the Synod. Having banished 
their able opponents without a fair hearing, the Synod pro- 
ceeded, in their absence, to try their cause, when a sen- 
tence of condemnation was speedily pronounced, — " Guilty 
of pestilential errors, and corruptions of the true reli- 
gion.'* The storm was now felt, in all its fury, by the 
Arminians. They were driven from all posts of honour ; 
subjected to fines and imprisonments, with the entire sup- 
pression of all their religious assem'blies. Episcopius, and 
many others, made their escape, and found an asylum 
under another government. 

On this subject, I know not where to stop. The great 
principles of the Arminians, as opposed to those of the 
Calvinists, I have already stated. With the sequel of that 
persecution you are doubtless well acquainted. May it 
not be summ.ed up in the language of that verse, which 
has lately rested upon my mind with much weight? — 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 249 

** Truth, crush'd to earth, shall rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers, 
But error, wounded, writhes in pain, . 
And dies amid her worshippers." 

In the gallery of paintings, we were shown the portraits 
of all the professors who had died since the establishment 
of the University ; from Scaliger, down to ***** *, 
who died in 1840. Total, one hundred and six persons. 
They nearly pover the entire walls. The theological pro- 
fessors occupy a space by themselves, Scaliger being first ; 
the fifth, I think, is Arminius ; and next to him, Episco- 
pius. The last professor of divinity who died, was Borgen, 
in 1820. 

Leaving the University, we walked into the garden of 
the Institution (Botanic). It contains seven acres ; and 
for the variety of its plants, the singular precision with 
which they are classified, the taste displayed in the walks, 
and in the arrangement of the shrubberies, it is considered, 
I believe, unsurpassed in Europe. Two date trees were 
pointed out, one hundred and twenty years old. A 
weeping beech, and a pear tree, with willow leaves, were 
cuiuous. 

Few persons visit this Botanical garden, without think- 
ing of Boerhave, whose plans and toils are still percepti- 
ble, and which have rendered it so illustrious. Haller, 
when speaking of these gardens, says Scepe vidimus ante 
Auroram^ optimum senem ligneis caleeis i^er hortum re- 
pentem ; ut cominus et cultum herharum perspiceret^ et 
flores fructusque speeularetur^ &c. «^ We have often seen 
the good old man, before the morning dawn, crawling 
about the garden in his wooden slippers, that he might 
immediately superintend the culture of plants, and specu- 
late on their flowers and fruits.'* 

Students, from all parts of Europe, w^ere attracted to 
Lcyden, in consequence of his consummate knowledge in 



250 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

physic. I have read, that a mandarin, in China, hearing 
of his fame, wrote him a letter, superscribed thus : ^' To 
the illustrious Boerhave, physician, in Europe,'' which 
reached him with celerity at Leyden. During many 
years he was Professor of Chemistry and Botany in this 
University. It is recorded, that when Peter the Great 
was in Holland in 1715, studying maritime aJBTairs, he 
regularly attended the lectures of Boerhave. 

He always rose at a very early hour, ajid made it a 
point of conscience to spend one hour in prayer, and in 
the reading of the Scriptures. " He often told his 
friends,'* says a writer, ''when they asked him how it 
was possible for him to go through so much fatigue, that 
it was the strength he derived in morning prayer which 
gave him spirit and vigour in the business of the day. 
This he, therefore, recommended as the hest ride lie could 
give: 'For nothing,' he said, 'could tend more to the 
health of the body, than the tranquillity of the mind ;' 
and that he knew nothing could support himself and his 
fellow creatures, amidst the various distresses of human 
life, but a well-grounded confidence in the Supreme Being, 
founded on the principles of Christianity.'' 

This eminent man, and great physician, was born at 
Woerhout, near Leyden, in 1668. Although, at the age 
of fifteen, he found himself without parents, property, or 
protection, yet, when he died, he left a princely fortune 
behind him. 

Dr. Johnson sets forth his character in a very pleasing 
light. "A man formed by nature for great designs, and 
guided by religion in the exertion of his abilities ; deter- 
mined to lose none of his hours, when he attained one 
science, he attempted another ; he added physic to divinity ; 
chemistry to the mathematics ; and anatomy to botany. 
He recommended truth by his elegance, and embellished 
the philosopher with polite literature ; yet his knowledge, 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 251 

however uncommon, holds in his character but a second 
place ; for his virtue was more uncommon than his learn- 
ing. He ascribed all his abilities to the bounty, and all 
his goodness to the grace of God. May those who study 
his writings imitate his life ; and those who endeavour after 
his knowledge, aspire likewise to his piety !" 

Two of his choice sayings are worthy to be hold in re- 
membrance. " The poor are my best patients ; God will 
be their paymaster.'* The second related to calumny and 
detraction: '' They are sparks," he would say, " Avhich, 
if you do not blow, w^ill go out of themselves. The surest 
remedy against a scandal is to live it doivn^ by a perseve- 
rance in well-doing, and by praying to God that he would 
cure the distempered minds of those who would traduce 
and injure us." It is said in Ley den, that he carried out 
this principle, never having been known to trouble himself 
in confuting false reports put in circulation against him ; 
but lived them down^ to the confusion of the wicked. 

Sensible I am, my dear friend, how very defective are 
these brief outlines of the character of Boerhave, and other 
great men ; but circumstanced as I am, you can expect 
little more than imperfect miniatures. 

But why inquire after such a monster as John of Ley- 
den ? His memory is even execrated in his birthplace ; 
nor did we trouble ourselves to walk a few steps to see his 
residence or relics. 

Those who have furnished accounts of him, — and they 
have not been few, — represent him as an ambitious, enter- 
prising, and aspiring monster. The sum and substance 
of all that has been written is the following : His father's 
name was Bucola, a tailor by trade, to which John was 
trained ; but taking a fancy to be a king, by cultivating a 
taste for royalty on the boards of a strolling company of 
comedians (for John then acted the part of a prince with 
good grace, and some applause), he resolved in very deed 



252 CONTI^'KKTAL LETTEKS. 

to become a king; though aware that to. seize a crown was 
quite as difficult as prendre la lune avec les dents ^ '' to lay 
hold of the moon with his teeth." Finding, at Amster- 
dam, a baker, who carried his fanaticism so far as to call 
himself God's vicegerent upon earth, and the illuminator 
of the world, John considered the act of uniting with this 
madman the first step to regal power. In a short time a 
large number of Germans joined them ; the faction spread 
with amazing rapidity. Their religious frenzy had for its 
object the destruction of most of the doctrines of Luther. 
At length, the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, 
and the Duke of Brunswick, resolved to draw the sword 
against these furious bigots. 

After a few desperate engagements, the Amsterdam 
fanatic was made prisoner, and beheaded. John considered 
this event to be the Rubicon of his fortunes, caused him- 
self to be proclaimed king, and informed his followers, 
sword in hand, that he would, like other monarchs, fight 
his way to a throne, and be crowned somewhere. 

This was the signal for the most horrible outrages that 
ever disgraced the soil of Holland. He battered down 
churches, and, in many places, blotted out all religious 
services, except such as he himself proposed ; commanded 
polygamy, and kept a seraglio of sixteen wives, one of 
whom attempted to assassinate a bishop, but the prelate 
seized the poignard from her hand, and plunged it into 
her bosom. His appearance in the streets of those towns 
he entered, struck terror to the hearts of the inhabitants. 
He wore a crown, carried a sword in one hand, and the 
New Testament in the other. The citizens were ordered 
out of their houses, and commanded to prostrate them- 
selves on the side-walks as he passed by, and none to re- 
main uncovered in his presence on pain of death. 

John, however, found that it was no easy thing to wear 
a crown, when procured. His capital was laid siege to by 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 253 

the Bishop of Munster, and the place reduced to such a 
state by famine, that the living fed upon the dead ; yet, 
the moment any man intimated a wish to surrender, he 
was put to death. At length the town was taken ; John 
and his bloody companions were dragged before the prelate, 
who charged him with his heinous crimes. John heard 
the Bishop's speech unconcerned, and replied, " The pos- 
session of my person has cost you much money, and much 
blood ; my death will be a loss to you ; my life may become 
a source of profit ; put me in an iron cage, set a price upon 
the exhibition of me, and send me through Europe ; thus 
will you, in the end, be a gainer by me." 

Ambitious to the end, if he could not enjoy a throne, 
he aspired to the notoriety of an iron cage. His scheme 
did not succeed ; the wretched man was condemned to a 
most horrible death. Two executioners tore his flesh slowly 
from his body, with red-hot pincers ; and after his con- 
querors had feasted their eyes and ears, with his agonies 
and screams, his heart was pierced with a javelin, and his 
mangled body thrown into an iron cage, and suspended 
from the steeple of one of the churches, to be devoured by 
the birds of prey. 

Leyden has some stirring incidents in its history. In 
the year 1574, it stood a four months' siege by a Spanish 
army. The famine was so great, that men, women, and 
children came to the market-place, and threw themselves 
at the feet of the burgomaster, some asking bread, others 
entreating him to surrender the town; but drawing his 
sword with one hand, and baring his breast with the other, 
he said, " Bread I have none, but if my death will please 
you, cut me to pieces." 

Deliverance came in a way quite unexpected. A benevo- 
lent man, aware of the deplorable state of Leyden, pro- 
posed to the States of Holland, a startling method of relief ; 
to make a breach in the dykes of the rivers Yssel and 
22 



254 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Meuse, and inundate sixty miles of the country. Not- 
withstanding the risk of such a measure, they assented. 
The dykes were cut away, the waters rushed in, aided 
by a north-west wind, and flooded the country. Soon after, 
a very high tide, with a south-west wind, drove the waters 
directly toward Leyden. A flotilla, of two hundred flat- 
bottomed boats, left Rotterdam, with eight hundred sailors, 
and one hundred cannon ; favoured by a fair wind, they 
bore away over gardens and meadows, for Leyden, with 
the motto, " Turks rather than Papists," emblazoned upon 
their banners. The Spaniards, finding themselves likely 
to be swept away by the inundation, or destroyed by the 
approaching navy, raised the siege' and fled. The flotilla 
arrived just in time to save the town, but six thousand 
persons had already perished by disease and hunger. When 
an exemption from taxes, or the establishment of a Univer- 
sity, was off'ered them by the Prince of Orange, as a reward 
for their noble defence, and fidelity during the siege, they 
did themselves additional honour by choosing a University. 
We spent the night in Leyden. After sunset, we enjoyed 
a delightful ramble along the banks of the Rhine, outside 
the walls. Our walk lay beneath the shade of an avenue 
of lofty trees, which accompanied the river in its meander- 
ings around the city. The evening was calm and cloud- 
less, with the sweetest solitude all around ; — the deep and 
smoothly gliding Rhine, now watering the walls of Leyden, 
and again sweeping past verdant banks, mirroring the trees, 
shrubs, and tangling creepers, in its peaceful bosom ; — we 
thought it scarcely possible, we should ever look upon a 
scene more lovely. 

**Now nature sinks in soft repose, 
A living semblance of the grave, 
The dew steals noiseless on the rose, 
The boughs have almost ceased to waye; 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 255 

The silent sky, the sleeping earth, 
The trees, the Rhine, the grassy sod, 

All tell from whom they had their birth, 
And cry, » Behold a God!'" 

We continued our walk till the outlines of various ob- 
jects began to lose themselves in each other, as the deep- 
ening twilight was gradually fading into night. 

This morning we left Leyden by railway, and took 
breakfast at Haarlem ; a clean, well built town on the 
river Spaarn, with a population of 25,000 souls. Its ex- 
istence dates from the fifth century, and it has had many 
vicissitudes in its history.* The streets of Haarlem are 
broad and regular, with the usual variety of canals, trees, 
and bridges, peculiar to the cities of Holland. 

There is a touching instance of female affection and 
presence of mind recorded in the annals of Haarlem, and 
which the citizens cherish with something like national 
pride. A spot is pointed out where a castle once stood. 
In consequence of some offence given by its lord, the bur- 
gers of the city laid siege to it. When reduced to the 
last extremity, and just on the point of a surrender 
(which would have resulted in the death of its owner, as 
his life had been forfeited, and would have been instantly 
sacrificed), his lady appeared on the ramparts, and offered 
to open the gates on certain conditions, namely ; that she 
might be permitted to bring out as much of her most valua- 
ble goods as she could carry upon her laclc. The stipula- 
tions were so reasonable that the burgers, not altogether 
void of a little gallantry, could not well refuse such a rea- 
sonable offer ; so receiving the most honourable and bind- 
ing assurances, she appeared at the gates with her husband 

* The original letter contains several very interesting descriptions, 
"whch must be omitted here, for the reasons assigned a few pages back. 
Hudder^field, Dec. 18, 1844. J. C. 



256 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

upon her shoulders, and marched through an infuriated 
soldiery with her precious charge unmolested. The castle 
was lost, but the husband was saved. 

The Stadthouse (Town House) is a magnificent building, 
singularly curious in its architecture and decorations. As 
we could not get admittance without much trouble, we 
contented ourselves with viewing the exterior. It con- 
tains, we were informed, some fine paintings by the Haar- 
lem artist, Frank Hals, long famed for the beauty of his 
colouring and pencilling. I remember reading a pleasant 
anecdote of this painter, and the celebrated Vandyke. 
The latter having a high opinion of Hals as an artist, con- 
cluded to pay him a visit. Vandyke introduced himself 
to Hals, who was enjoying his bottle at the tavern (a 
place of which he was unhappily too fond), and told him 
he was a gentleman on his travels, having just two hours 
to spare, and wished in that time to have his portrait 
painted. Hals sprang from his glass and companions, and 
with the utmost celerity proceeded with the task. At a 
certain stage of the work, Vandyke desired to look at his 
progress, and with great pleasantry in his countenance, 
remarked that the work seemed very easy, and that he 
could do the same ; upon which he took up the pallette 
and pencils, requested Hals to sit for his likeness, and in 
one quarter of an hour presented a striking portrait. The 
moment Hals saw it, he exclaimed, " No one but Vandyke 
could have achieved such a wonder." The two artists 
mutually embraced each other, highly delighted with- the 
adventure. 

The Haarlem Church is said to be, in magnitude, be- 
yond any in Holland. We waited a couple of hours to 
obtain a sight and hearing of one of its principal orna- 
ments, the organ, supposed to be the largest in the world. 
Whether this be a fact, I cannot say, but the dimensions 
may speak for themselves : height, one hundred and eight 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 257 

feet ; its breadth occupies the entire west end of the nave ; 
number of pipes, eight thousand, the greatest of which is 
thirty-two feet in length, and sixteen inches in diameter. 
In the language of an organist, it has sixty stops or voices, 
four separations, two shakes, two couplings, and twelve 
bellows. The instrument is played two days in the week 
for the entertainment of the public, an hour each day ; and 
as this happened to be one of the days, we promised our- 
selves a treat. 

Having an hour to spare before the opening of the 
church, we paid a visit to the statue of Laurence Costar, 
inventor of the art of printing. He was a native of Haar- 
lem, and this monument was erected by his townsmen for 
the perpetuation of their own, as well as Costar's honour. 
The statue holds in one hand a triangle, marked with the 
letter A, and in the other a book. Upon one side of the 
pedestal is sculptured Costar standing by a tree, applying 
'an instrument to the bark, indicating the manner in which 
the art was discovered. Costar^ it seems, was one day 
walking in a grove, and began to amuse himself by carving 
the letters of his name on the bark of a beech tree, and 
while the sap was fresh in the wound, carefully pressed a 
slip of paper upon the characters, and obtained a legible 
copy. Being a man of judgment and ingenuity, he car- 
ried out the idea soon after by engraving letters in wood. 

In a short time, he printed several small works, some 
of which are still in existence ; but the typography is 
extremely rude and inelegant. The lines are uneven, 
without punctuation, or divisions at the end ; nor are the 
pages numbered, or all of one shape or size. The first 
book he printed bears date 1440. Title : " Speculum 
HumanoB Salvationist <« The Mirror of our Salvation.'* 

The opposite side of the pedestal represents a printing 
press in operation, and the remaining squares contain 
Latin inscriptions, which we had not time to copy. 



268 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

The house in which he lived is still standing, nearly- 
opposite his statue, and occupied. It bears his name and 
portrait, singularly done in old oak, with the date 1420. 

We had a variety of emotions when standing before 
this monument. We thought of the Bible, — the precious 
Bible, — its cheapness, and extensive circulation ; — of other 
books, theological, historical, and scientific; their variety 
and perpetuity. We contemplated Luther and the Re- 
formation, and how the art of printing prepared the way, 
and hastened its advancement. How rapidly did the 
works of Erasmus, Luther, Arminius, &c., spread over 
Germany, Switzerland, and other nations of Europe, by 
this divine discovery ! 

Pardon the digression, but I lighted upon a page the 
other day belonging to some pamphlet, which came from 
the press nearly two centuries ago, relative to the art of 
printing. It is seldom I have seen so much telling irony 
in so short a space ; and as I am desirous of making this 
letter ''full weight," I shall send you a copy of it. '' The 
press (that villanous engine), invented much about the 
same time with the Reformation, hath done more mischief 
to the discipline of our church, than the doctrine can 
make amends for. It was a happy time when all learning 
was in manuscript, and same little officer did keep the 
keys of the library, like our author ; when the clergy 
needed no more knowledge than to read the liturgy, and 
the laity no more clerkship than to save them from hang- 
ing. But now, since printing came into the world, such 
is the mischief, that a man cannot write a book but pre- 
sently he is answered. Could the press but at once be 
conjured to obey only an imprimatur ^ our author might not 
disdain, perhaps, to be one of its most zealous patrons. 
There have been ways found out to banish ministers, to 
find not only the people, but even the grounds and fi.eld3 
where they assembled in conventicles ; but no art yet could. 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 259 

prevent these seditious meetings of letters. Two or three 
brawny fellows in a corner, with mere ink and elbow grease, 
do more harm than a hundred systematic divines with their 
sweaty preaching. And, what is a strange thing, the very 
spunges which one would think should rather deface and 
blot out the whole book, and were anciently used for that 
purpose, are become now the instruments to make them 
legible. Their ugly printing letters look but like so many 
rotten tooth drawers ; and yet these rascally operators of 
the press have got a trick to fasten them again in a few 
minutes, that they groAV as firm a |et, and as biting and 
talkative as ever. 0, printing ! how hast thou disturbed the 
peace of mankind ! — that lead when moulded into bullets, 
is not so mortal as when formed into letters. There was 
a mistake sure in the story of Cadmus ; and the serpents' 
teeth which he sowed were nothing else but the letters 
which he invented. The first essay that was made tow^ards 
this art was in single characters upon iron, wherewith, of 
old, they stigmatized slaves and remarkable offenders ; 
and it was of good use sometimes to brand a schismatic ; 
but a bulky Dutchman diverted it quite from its first insti- 
tution, and contriving those innumerable syntagmes of 
alphabets, hath pestered the world ever since with the 
gross bodies of German divinity. One would have thought 
in reason, that a Dutchman might have been contented with 
the winepress.'' 

Popery received a fatal blow by the Reformation, from 
which it has not recovered, nor ever shall recover. The 
wound was wide and deep ; but had it not been for the 
press, it is not likely it would have penetrated so near the 
vitals. The gashes made by these ''teeth," of w^hich the 
writer complains, are hard to heal ; — impossible, while still 
"biting." The rapid circulation of the Holy Scriptures 
contributed more to uproot the errors of Romanism, than 
the writings of the Reformers. The latter, indeed, may 



260 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

have prepared the way, as the morning star heralds the 
approaching sun, or *as the preaching of John the Baptist 
directed the eyes of many thousands to the Saviour of the 
world. The Scriptures are the ham of Popery ; and had 
they but free course through the mass of men which is 
under its influence, they would overthrow the system. 

I have read an impressive circumstance illustrative of 
this sentiment, which occurred in Hull, the town in which 
I intend to spend a few weeks, in order to promote a re- 
vival, on my return to England. In the year 1534, Tindal 
and other Reformers printed and sent over to many of the 
towns in England several books, which exposed the cor- 
ruptions and superstitions of the Church of Rome. These 
books proved the folly of pilgrimages, and of the worship 
of images, saints, and relics, which the Papists termed good 
works; and taught justification by faith only, but insisted 
upon true evangelical obedience, as being absolutely ne- 
cessary to eternal salvation. 

Aware that the doctrines contained in these publications, 
needed the witness of the Holy Scriptures, a copious 
supply of Tindal's Translation of the New Testament was 
intermixed in the packages. This book, notwithstanding 
the severe prohibitions against it, was circulated through 
the length and breadth of the land, and was eagerly sought 
after by multitudes, that they might know the truth and 
certainty of that upon which depended the salvation of 
their souls. 

In due time the books and the Scriptures reached Hull, 
where Popery was enjoying a calm before a storm. A 
certain Popish vicar read them, and became a convert. 
He immediately felt bound, in conscience, to espouse the 
cause of the Reformation, and also to expose the errors 
of Romanism ; which he did in a sermon, preached in the 
Church of Holy Trinity. He soon found, poor man, that 
he had taken a lion by the mane. He was accused, con- 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 261 

victed, and compelled to make a public recantation ; after 
which he was sentenced to the following penance : " To 
walk, on a Sunday, round the Church of Holy Trinity, 
bare-footed and bare-legged, in his shirt, carrying a large 
faggot in his hand, to denote the punishment he was 
thought to have deserved ; and to do the same the next 
market-day, around the market place." The unhappy 
man submitted, and thus escaped the martyrdom so nobly 
endured, a few years after, by the Protestants of that 
country. 

This, so far from intimidating the people of Hull, stimu- 
lated them to procure the Scriptures at any price, and 
read for themselves. Romanism could not bear the light 
and sunshine of revelation ; the iron yoke speedily melted 
away from the necks of the population, and a new era 
dawned upon the history of that interesting town. 

The last reflection which occupied our minds, when 
standing before the monument of Costar, was, how much 
pure and undefiled religion is indebted, under God, to this 
divine discovery. We seemed chained to the spot, and 
finally had to tear ourselves away. 

The hour of music came, and as we entered the church, 
a burst of melody, as if from a thousand instruments, fell 
upon our astonished senses ; and, 0, the thundering 
peals, — the trumpet tones, long, loud, and overpowering ; — 
such rolling, rattling, drum-like sounds (pardon the phra- 
seology, for it is not musical) ; but then there was an 
under current of soft, sweet strains, which seemed to gush 
into one's very soul. Again came the roar of cannon, and 
quick reports of musketry, as if regiments were discharg- 
ing in quick succession. But this, it seems, was a grand 
military piece. The uproar and desperation of the battle 
being ended, with notes of victory running up to the 
highest note of a musical climax, there was a pause, suc- 
ceeded by several fine pieces, which brought out the power 



262 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

of the instrument in a surprising manner. Nothing could 
equal the majesty of what, I think, is called ^' The Pasto- 
ral and Tempest," composed, I have been informed, ex- 
pressly for the Haarlem organ ; the full compass of which 
is never heard but in this piece. 

It begins in a low, sweet, warbling strain, not unlike a 
distant bird, joined soon by some others, when other sounds 
mingle, resembling a shepherd's lute or reed. After this, 
two or three more unite. The air is filled with tender 
melody, with singular breaks, disjointed notes, or silvery 
drops, which fall upon the heart, and circulate through the 
soul, till existence is a harmony. There is no difficulty 
now for the imagination to perceive nature in her loveli- 
ness ; hill and dale, the peaceful lake or river, gliding 
through verdant meadows ; — all that is peculiar to the 
beauty of a rural landscape, with flocks reposing beneath 
shady trees. Nor is it easy to forget heaven and its many 
seraphic voices, raising the high celestial song, the new 
song, in " the house not made with hands ;" nor yet " the 
sweet fields beyond the swelling flood.'' Hearken ! there 
is a hoarsely murmuring sound, as if the winds were out 
among the trees ; a clap or two of thunder startles us. 
What a swell! what an ascent, from the softest to the 
sublimest sound ! The bree2ry rumour increases every 
moment, till the sweet notes of the shepherds are lost in 
the roar of the storm. Fancy, however, gives way to the 
awful thunder tones, when the massy building seems to 
tremble through all its aisles. 

A sense of security prompts the mind to imagine, in this 
^'tempest" of music, trees shattered and uprooted, shep- 
herds collecting their flocks into shelter, from the rage of 
the storm. At length, as if the hurricane had expended 
its fury, or trembling nature were in a state of exhaustion, 
it gradually dies away, and the glad notes of the shepherds 
speak of the safety of their flocks ; and assure one, that 



TO A FRIEND IX AMEFvICA. 263 

the landscape is once more lighted up with '-smiles of 
sweetest sunshine/' I little thought, on entering this church, 
that a couple of pages should be filled with such imaginings ; 
but, you know, I love music ; and " a strange way," you will 
say, "you have of describing it." You know, also, that I 
love poetry. There is music in poetry; they belong, in 
fact, to the same family ; they differ only in their medium 
of access to the human mind ; — music for the ear, and 
poetry for the eye, both of which are calculated to bring "^ 
the liveliest images before the imagination. Music fosters 
poetry, and poetry wooes music ; is it any wonder, then, 
that I should revel in the sweet sounds of the Haarlem 
organ, and expatiate on them in the language of poesy ? 

I confess, however, were the above to be written, now 
that I am in the sober city of Amsterdam, the impressions 
made at the time having partly faded away, it would not 
be attempted. More than once I have been inclined to 
draw my pen through the whole, as an exaggeration ; but 
having just now been favoured with the sentiments of one 
who is a much better judge of music than myself, they 
shall be united to my own. Suppress them altogether, if 
you please, when they reach your shores. " Some of the 
notes of the organ are so delicate as scarcely to exceed the 
warblings of a small singing bird, and others so loud as to 
shake the massy pile in which it stands. For power and 
variety of tone, it stands unequalled ; — like an elephant, 
that, with his proboscis, can either pluck a violet, or raise 
a tree from its roots. When the whole strength of the 
organ is exerted, never did I hear, or could conceive, sounds 
mgre GoJ-like. The swelling majesty of each gigantic 
note, seems of more than mortal birth, and the slightest 
sounds enchant the ear. Solemnity, grandeur, delicacy, 
and harmony, are the characteristics of this noble instru- 
ment." 

"Why, sir," says another, "I have read, that Handel, 



264 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

the eminent composer, compelled his miivsic to force the 
imagination to feel, what reason would demand to see, ere 
submission could be accorded to an impression. The hop- 
ping of frogs, the buzzing of flies, the falling of hail, the 
flashing of lightning, the flowing of streams, the roaring 
of lions, the crawling of worms ; a shipwreck, with the 
shrieks and cries of tortured souls in hell, were all attempted 
by this great master. Even the sun standing still in the 
days of Joshua, was imitated by a note of uncommon du- 
ration/' 

The tones of the Haarlem organ are said to be more 
powerful now than in its earlier days. It is recorded that 
Handel, many years ago, paid a visit to Haarlem, and 
played on the organ ; and that the poor organist, never 
having before heard the full power of the instrument, was 
so amazed, that he exclaimed, " He is either an angel or a 
devil." 

This afternoon, we left Haarlem by railway for Amster- 
dam ; but saw nothing interesting till we came within four 
miles of the city. Here we noticed the singular position 
of those two large sheets of water, divided by a narrow 
artificial isthmus ; the lake, or sea of Haarlem on the right, 
thirty-three miles in circumference, and that of Y or Ai, 
often called the Zuyder-Zee (for it has various names), on 
the left. The isthmus, between those two bodies of water, 
is of vast importance, as the safety of a considerable part 
of Holland depends upon it. These two lakes are the two 
grand interior enemies of Holland, and are as much dreaded 
as the brawling ocean on the outside. 

Two centuries and a half ago, this Haarlem sea was quite 
insignificant; but several other smaller lakes in its vicinity, 
dotted with villages along their margin, uniting in a con- 
spiracy with the sea of Haarlem, suddenly became one, 
overwhelming the villages within the whole range of their 
territory. 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 205 

This isthmus, with its sluices, and its nicely marked 
gauge-posts, is watched by night and by day ; the latter 
standing like so many sentinels, to watch the motion of 
these treacherous foes. The levels are frequently taken, 
and closely observed, and any rise in either of the two 
lakes, is noticed with no inconsiderable anxiety. We were 
informed that the safety, not only of Amsterdam, but of 
all the country eighteen miles around, is dependent upon 
the vigilance bestowed upon these locks. '^Amsterdam, 
like many other parts of Holland," says a writer, ^'owes 
its existence only to the courage and unceasing labours of 
its inhabitants ; were they even for a few moments to neg- 
lect the dykes and locks, the town, and even the whole 
province, which is almost everywhere below the level of 
the sea, would soon be under water." He adds, ''the 
expenses incurred by these works, together with the repairs 
of the canals, bridges, &c., amount daily to several millions 
of florins to the town of Amsterdam alone;" — a sum one 
would scarcely think credible but for the respectability of 
the author. 

It was startling, when riding between these lakes, to 
behold the rigging of the vessels, sailing so far above us, 
on the bosom of the Ai. 

We entered Amsterdam by the Haarlem gate, and soon 
found ourselves comfortably accommodated in the pleasant 
rooms of the Hotel des Pays-has^ or ''Netherland Hotel." 

When preparing for dinner, we heard a singular noise 
in the street, not unlike the clogs of the Delft boys men- 
tioned in my letter from the Hague, but accompanied by 
sweet strains of music. Throwing aside the Venitian blinds, 
we beheld two young men exalted upon lofty stilts, fantas- 
tically dressed, and in the full glee of a dance. They 
certainly exhibited no small degree both of tact and talent. 
They whirled about, sprang up from the pavement, joined 
hands, went off in a zig-zag direction like lightning, re- 

23 



266 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

turned to the same spot, interlaced their stilts, twirled 
around like wheels within wheels ; their stilts, in the mean 
time, beating on the rough pavement like drum sticks, but 
in perfect time with the music. How they avoided break- 
ing their necks was a wonder ; but the main question was, 
how a Dutchman could be put into action so tremendous, 
and that on such a very hot day, without even the inspi- 
ration of his pipe. Nor had they the usual excitement 
from an approving crowd, — such as would be accorded in 
an English or American town. The street was as still as 
any you have beheld on a Sabbath day, and the few spec- 
tators almost as solemn as if listening to a sermon. Our 
speculations were put to an end when we learned they 
were tw^o Swiss mountaineers, who had come down to show 
the Dutch w^hat could be done by a long pair of w^ooden 
legs. 

I do not recollect receiving a more impressive lesson on 
the trifling and worthless direction given by the devil to 
human talent. Here are two fine young men, we reflected, 
with capabilities of no ordinary character. But, as far as 
regards them, the point is not now to be settled whether 
God or the devil shall claim the hidden treasure of the 
soul, or ''wake the sleepless energy of thought;" — no I 
there is little doubt that it has been with these, as with 
multitudes of others, the grand adversary has reaped the 
fruits of mind from the gradual ray of boyhood, up to 
"the bright and burning noon of intellectual day." 

One of the greatest men of the age in which he lived, 
in giving an account of the application of his talents while 
Satan had him under his control, said, " I was expert at 
follies, acute in trifles, and ingenious about nonsense." 
Such was the degrading use which the enemy of man made 
of his great powers. Had eternity been out of the ques- 
tion, — could we have believed that God will treat these 
young men in the other world, for the misapplication of 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 267 

their talents, as Alexander the Great treated the pea- 
ihroioer^ the scene would have been anmsing enough. 

The person referred to appeared before Alexander, 
boasting that he could throw a pea through a little hole at 
a certain distance, expecting a great reward. The thing 
was done to the admiration of many, but the king consider- 
ing what reward was suitable for such '^ diligent negligence" 
or ''busy idleness,'' ordered him a bushel of peas for a 
recompense. Ah ! the awards of eternity for prostituted 
talents, so far from being the same in kind, shall be a deep 
and a dreadful punishment. 

I shall give you some account of Amsterdam in my next. 
Farewell. ' J. C. 



LETTER IV. 

TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 

Utrecht, Holland, Sept. 20, 1843. 
My dear Sir, 
You will see, no doubt, my letter to * * *, dated at 
Amsterdam, in which I gave a sketch of the incidents of 
my tour from the Hague to that city ; I shall refrain, there- 
fore, from a retrospect of the last few days. I penned a 
variety of notes while in Amsterdam, but had no time to 
form them into a letter ; so meagre have they appeared to 
be that I have several times been tempted to burn them. 
If they afford you any pleasure, you may thank a '' second 
thought," which, in the opinion of some, is generally the 
best ; though a friend of mine in England is of a quite 
contrary opinion. ''When you reject the first thought,'* 
I have heard him say, " never rest in the second, this is 
always wrong, go on to the third, — the third is generally 



268 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

rightj and seldom fails to harmonize with the first." But 
this was a choice sentiment of his when addressing 
awakened, but undecided sinners ; it was proposed thus : 
" You are convinced of your wretched state as a sinner ; 
the first thought is, ' I am in danger of dropping into 
hell; — I must seek God to-night.' If you proceed to the 
second thought^ it is sure to land you in procrastination^ or 
rejection of the truth; never stop here, pass on to the 
third, and that will always be, ' I must not any longer run 
the risk of losing my soul; salvation should be sought 
now.' Stick to that ; it corresponds with the first, and 
leads to God." A little before I left England, he told me 
the argument had lately been very successful ; that a few 
nights after his last appeal, a young woman rose in class, 
and said, " Sir, I thank God I heard you at * * *." She 
then repeated his exhortation. ^^ I was then," she added, 
^' an awakened sinner. The first thought was, ' I must 
seek the salvation of my soul now;' — a second came, 'no, 
not to-night;' but. Sir, I passed to a third, — 'I may die 
soon, and never obtain it, and should therefore seek religion 
this night.' I held on to the third, and very soon, God, 
through faith in the blood of Christ, forgave me all my 
sins." Well, w^hat a digression is here! Alas! I am 
away from my favourite work of saving souls from death, 
and the least allusion recalls ''the ruling passion" of my 
soul. 

Next day, after our arrival in Amsterdam, we hired a 
guide for the day, at two guilders (equal to eighty cents, 
American), and sallied out to see the city. We spent a 
short time in viewing the harbour, and from thence paid a 
visit to the churches.* 

Some of the windows of the old Cathedral are richly 



** Want of room compels me to leave out my remarks upon the harbour 
and churches. 



TO A FRIEND IN AxMERICA. 269 

adorned with paintings in stained glass, very ancient, and 
principally illustrative of religious subjects. There is a 
curious anecdote related here connected with two of these 
windows, of which the following is the substance : Shortly 
after the commencement of the Reformation, a wealthy 
citizen, named Claas Van-Hoppen, was suspected of being 
tinctured with the prevailing heresy. The priests, together 
with his confessor, brought a charge against him, which 
Vras so well sustained, that he was commanded, on pain of 
excommunication, to recant and proceed to Rome imme- 
diately for absolution from the Pope. 

Van-Hoppen obeyed, and set forward on his pilgrimage. 
The crafty priests, in the mean time, sent forward a letter, 
post-haste, respecting the wealth of the penitent, and more 
than hinting, that his high living had tended to make him 
an unruly Romanist. On arriving at Rome, he was ordered 
into the pope's presence, who heard his recantation, gave 
him absolution, and imposed on him a heavy penance. Two 
of the items were, a present of two splendid windows of 
stained glass, with beautiful figures, for the Cathedral at 
Amsterdam ; and that he should drink nothing but water 
during a whole year. 

It seems Van-Hoppen cared little about pecuniary 
damages ; these he could pay ; but to drink nothing but 
water during an entire year, was too much for the Dutch- 
man. He came home with a heavy heart ; teetotalism, 
however, became so intolerable, he returned to Rome, and 
told the Pope that the water of Amsterdam was so bad, 
that nobody could drink it plain, and requested liberty to 
add a few grains of corn, to correct its impurities ; other- 
wise, he should die before the windows were finished. The 
request was granted ; but the source from which I gathered 
the anecdote, more than intimated, than Claas Van-Hoppen 
outwitted the Pope, and ever after malted his water most 
abundantly ! 



270 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

It was not long after this, that the doctrines of the Re- 
formation, which had been shaking Popery like an earth- 
quake, throughout Switzerland and Germany, came down 
like a thunderstorm on Holland. The Roman Catholics 
were driven out of the Cathedral, and it was taken posses- 
sion of by the Protestants. No one can tell how these 
windows escaped the general destruction of images, which 
took place when the Reformers undertook to " cleanse the 
churches from Popish abominations." On a cornice of the 
bronze balustrade, which separates the choir from the body 
of the church, there is an inscription in Dutch, of which 
the following is a translation : '^ The abuse introduced into 
the church of God, from time to time, was here exploded 
in the year 1578." 

From the Cathedrd we walked to the Old Town-House, 
called the Royal Palace, since Louis Bonaparte occupied 
it, when King of Holland, in 1808. The Dutch consider 
this palace the ninth wonder of the world. It is of free- 
stone ; and although its external appearance has nothing 
very magnificent, it is no doubt one of the most wonderful 
buildings in existence. The front measures two hundred 
and eighty-two feet by two hundred and fifty-five in depth, 
and one hundred and sixteen feet high, surmounted by a 
tower and cupola, which rise one hundred and eighty-three 
feet from the pavement. It is, in fact, a prodigious build- 
ing for a country which furnishes no stone, and a city 
which ofi'ers no other foundation than mud. The edifice 
stands upon thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety-five 
trees, driven down into the mud ; indeed, all the quays 
and houses in Amsterdam are built upon these artificial 
foundations, which perhaps may account for the irregular- 
ity of the houses in many of the streets ; some leaning 
one way and some another ; and not many, I should ima- 
gine, exactly perpendicular ; which certainly impresses 
the stranger with no very satisfactory sense of safety.' 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 271 

When Erasmus first visited Amsterdam, he sportively allud- 
ed to its forest foundations, in a letter to a friend: "I 
have reached a city, the inhabitants of which, like crows, 
live upon the tops of trees/' This may account for the 
pun of another wit : " Why is Amsterdam like Venice ? 
Because both have wooden legs!" 

The principal pediment of the Koyal Palace rises out 
of a noble entablature. The sculptural ornaments in the 
pediment, are in fine marble ; and having an abundance 
of space, as the base is more than eighty feet, and nearly 
twenty to the highest point of the angle, the effect is royal 
and imposing. Amsterdam is represented under the figure 
of a woman, seated upon a throne, supported by two 
lions ; — upon her head an imperial crown, and holding in 
her right hand, an olive branch. The city arms are por- 
trayed upon an escutcheon on her left ; to the right, she 
is attended by Neptune, armed with his trident, sitting in 
a car, and drawn by sea-monsters. Several Naiads and 
Tritons surround her, proclaiming her renown with their 
conch shells, and some presenting crowns of palm and 
laurel, while others offer her fruit. Upon the angles of this 
pediment, are three colossal figures in bronze, — Peace, 
Prudence, and Justice. The back front has another in- 
genious pediment, with sculpture in equally good taste. 
Commerce, in the form of a young girl, is seen resting 
her feet on a globe ; the Y and the Amstel are below^ her, 
while the inhabitants of the four quarters of the globe 
are trading with her. An Atlas, bearing a prodigious 
globe, stands upon the angle ; but he is grievously shorn 
of his honours, by two or three massive bars of iron lend- 
ing their aid to strengthen his back, and that in view of 
the entire public ! He has very honourable company, 
however ; a statue of Temperance on one hand, and Vigi- 
lance on the other. Thirty pilasters, of the composite 
9rder, each thirty-six feet high, ranged along the second 



272 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

story of the principal facade, relieve the eye ; as also a 
second range of the Corinthian order, which distinguishes 
the third story. The latter colonnade supports the main 
entablature of the pediment already alluded to. We 
looked in vain for the grand entrance ; instead of which, 
we had our choice of seven small porticoes, representing 
the seven provinces of Holland. But why was there not 
a main entrance ? " There is caution here. Sir," said our 
guide, '' and foresight of our old burgomasters. Suppose 
an insurrection, Sir ; behold the difficulty of a mob rush- 
ing in. Sir. A grand entrance would be a grand inlet. 
It was forethought. Sir." 

The first story of the interior presented little else than 
long halls and arches, with here and there large stoves, in 
the form of great chests, covered with square pieces of 
white tile, and hooped with bands of polished brass. Arriv- 
ing on the next floor, we were taken by surprise. The 
rooms are fitted up in a kingly style, lined with white 
marble, and loaded with exquisite sculpture, of the same 
material, principally classic, with a profusion of statues 
and pictures. Everywhere there is a strange amalgama- 
tion of legal and business-like insignia, with the superb 
devices of royal grandeur, presenting a singular incon- 
gruity to the eye of a stranger, if he have not been in- 
formed that the old Stadt-house, or Town Hall, has been 
metamorphosed into a Royal Palace. 

The entire suite of rooms appropriated to the king and 
queen, are very handsome, with many exquisite paintings. 
We observed two in fresco, over a couple of doors, singu- 
larly deceptive ; as if sculptured in bas-relief, the figures 
seemed standing out two or three inches from the wall, 
but the illusion vanished when we stood directly under- 
neath, — it was a plain surface. 

No one can walk through the Hall, designed for the 
town offices, vrithout receiving many impressive lessons, if 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 273 

he accustom himself "to look aloft." Over the door of 
each room, are emblems executed in good sculpture, indi- 
cative of the business transacted within ; some of which 
remind one of the French proverb. Qui bon Vachete bon le 
boit^ which may be rendered by the English proverb, " As 
you brew so you must drink;" and the Italian motto, 
Aiutati e Bio faiiitera^ " Help yourself and God will help 
you." Some were cautionary, as if illustrative of a Spanish 
maxim I have seen somewhere, Quien te cubre, te descubre^ 
" That which covers thee, discovers thee ;" but all harmo- 
nizing with the proposition of a neighbouring nation : Pena 
e premio son Vanima del buon governo^ " Rewards and 
punishments are the basis of good government." 

The bankrupts' room has over its door a variety of 
coffers, and as many rats pilfering their contents. There 
is a moral in this, but you must find it out yourself. 
Flowers with their heads drooping, give their silent lec- 
ture upon the transitory character of honour and worldly 
prosperity, if not properly taken care of; being easily 
blighted and destroyed by the untimely blasts of adversity. 
Skeletons of fishes, fowls, and animals, are sculptured upon 
the door posts, as if to remind the bankrupt of the evils 
of high living, or taunt him with the French motto, Les 
fous font des festinSj et les sages les mangent^ " Fools make 
feasts, and wise men eat them." Upon the floors of a 
large hall, are delineated the celestial and terrestrial 
hemispheres, ingeniously done in jasper and brass, upon 
a ground of variegated marble. The whole is included in 
three circles, of not less than twenty-two feet in diameter, 
and sixty-nine in circumference. The two outer circles 
represent the two hemispheres of the earth ; and the cen- 
tral, the planisphere of the heavens. 

From the cupola, we enjoyed a prospect, rich, varied, 
and thrilling ; such as probably no other nation under the 
sun could afford. Amsterdam lay beneath, in the form of 



274 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

a crescent, presenting a surface equal to nine miles' in cir- 
cumference, checkered by canals into more than ninety 
islands, united by three times that number of draw-bridges ; 
— the harbour and shipping, the sea of Haarlem and Zuy- 
der-Zee, the ocean, and vast embankments to keep it out, 
and the numerous dykes of defence against enemies of the 
same element, entrenched within. It is here one may 
learn the true etymology of Holland, that is, the " hollow- 
land.'' 

The city is entered by eight gates ; but the ancient 
ramparts have disappeared ; their outlines, however, are 
still indicated by windmills, whirling about like so many 
''things of life" on the twenty-six old bastions, which 
formerly surmounted the fortifications. These mills, like 
others throughout Holland, are not only used for grinding 
corn, sawing wood, marble, and stone, making oil, and 
preparing tobacco, but also for dislodging invading water ^ 
by means of their pumping engines. 

Water is the great enemy of the Dutchman, and against 
it he has been contending for centuries ; and successfully, 
too, notwithstanding the ridicule heaped upon him by those 
who should have honoured the triumphs of his industry, 
under such natural disadvantages. Instead of flying before 
his foes, he raises a mutiny among them ; arms element 
against element, sets the wind to fight the water, by his 
windmills and pumps ; checks its advance, controls its wild 
uproar, drives it out of its entrenchments, pursues it from 
ditch to ditch, and gives it no rest till he throws it back 
again in the face of the sea. Thus he keeps possession of 
a territory to which the ocean has never yet abandoned its 
claim. It is no longer since than the year 1825, that the 
sea rose twenty-four feet above the level of the province, 
and but for the stability of the dykes, the whole country • 
would have been laid under water to that depth. 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 275 

When traversing the city in various directions, we passed 
through noble streets, some of them nearly one hundred 
and fifty feet wide, adorned with houses of princely splen- 
dour ; but the canals are almost as intolerable as those of 
the Hague. The shops correspond with the title accorded 
to Amsterdam : '' The great warehouse of the world.'' The 
druggists' shops have a sign sufiicient to frighten any sensible 
invalid from their precincts ; namely, a huge carved head, 
with a monstrous mouth, wide open, above the door or window, 
called De gaaper. This clumsy and ludicrous sign prevails in 
most of the cities of Holland. Now for another peculiarity : 
'* Guide, who are those little men that have passed us in 
several of the streets, with black gowm, a band, a low 
cocked hat with a crape pending behind, and a sheet of 
paper in hand, so clerical looking, but their quick and busi- 
ness-like step puzzles us?" " Aanspreckers, Sir." "Well, 
we are just as wise as ever." '' Public functionaries ; death 
messengers, Sir. When a death occurs, they hasten to 
acquaint the circle of the friends and acquaintances of the 
deceased." "Well, they seem to have full employment." 
"Yes, Sir." 

The dress of the ladies differs little from that of the 
wives, daughters, and servants of respectable tradesmen in 
America, only with much less frippery. The head-dress 
should be an exception, but it would require a milliner to 
describe the various orders of its architecture ! The fore- 
heads of some whom we met were covered almost as low as 
the eyes with thin plates ; some, doubtless, of gold and 
silver, but most of baser metal. These ornaments, how- 
ever, are not in general use now — perhaps from the fact 
that foreigners have expressed a doubt as to the soundness 
of the skulls and brains of such ladies. " She is trepanned," 
is enough to frighten any daughter of Eve out of the most 
beloved fashion ! 

There are few wheeled carriages in Amsterdam ; but they 



276 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

are far " ahead" of Americans in their sleigh conveniences, 
as they run them summer and winter. The body of a 
coach is fixed on a wooden sledge, draAvn by a single horse ; 
it accommodates four persons, and travels at the rate of 
three miles an hour ; but the driver, or an additional man, 
must walk by the side to prevent an upset. The population 
of Amsterdam is above two hundred thousand. 

The time we had designed for the city being now nearly 
expended, we waited upon the proper consuls for passports 
and signatures, w^hich we obtained with much difficulty, 
and some expense ; and set out by diligence for Utrecht, 
where we arrived in about three hours and a half, and put 
up at an elegant hotel. The ride through an avenue of 
large trees^ extending almost to Utrecht, in double rows, 
was extremely pleasant. To the right and left, the road 
was enlivened w^ith handsome houses, prettily situated, with 
the never-failing accompaniment of a pleasure house at the 
corner of the garden, bestriding a ditch of stagnant water. 
Each residence has no other defence than a deep ditch 
filled with water, which surrounds it on every side ; over 
this is a draw-bridge, which is lifted at night, and thus the 
Dutchman is secure in his ow^n citadel. Thus he converts 
his enemy into a friendly w^atchman, and can trust to his 
faithfulness in night's darkest hours. Towards evening, 
the meadows, which extend as far as eye can reach, were 
suddenly covered to the depth of three feet by a dense 
vapour, which rose from their surface. As we rode on, 
they appeared to be transformed into a vast sea, and we 
amused ourselves by comparing the windmills in the distance 
to vessels bearing down upon us in full sail; but a man 
walking on this sea, or cattle straying upon its bosom, 
frequently upset our speculations, or destroyed the illusion. 

Utrecht, the capital of a province of the same name, 
has a pleasant site at the confluence of the Rhine and the 
Vecht. The taste for trees is quite as prevalent here as 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 277 

in any city in Holland. When Avalking through the town, 
we noticed a variety of small squares, neatly planted, 
affording a cool shade for the inhabitants. The tower of 
the old Cathedral is an object of curiosity. It stands 
alone. A tremendous hurricane, two hundred years ago, 
swept over the town, and separated the steeple from the 
church by destroying a wing of the building, which has 
never been rebuilt. We ascended the solitary tower, seve- 
ral hundred feet, and what a prospect ! It is said, the 
view extends nearly over the whole province of Holland, 
part of Guilderland, and Northern Brabant ; a surface 
including in its ample space seventy large towns. We 
saw distinctly the huge pyramid of earth raised at Zeyst 
by the French army, on the occasion of Napoleon being 
created emperor. This mound is said to be one hundred 
and fifty feet high. The monument remains, but where is 
Napoleon ? We can point toward Paris, where a little heap 
of dry bones is deposited. And is this all which is left 
of that strange being, who, as one of his own countrymen 
has said, <' almost shook the equilibrium of the globe ?" 

Napoleon yet lives ; his soul has neither lost its exist- 
ence nor identity ; but wliere^ we must die to know. 



To-morrow we set out for Cologne. Farewell. 



J. C. 



LETTER V. 

Cologne, Prussia, September, 1843. 
Dear Sir : 
We left Utrecht on the afternoon of the 21st inst. by 
diligence, enveloped in clouds of tobacco smoke. An aged 
man, accompanied by a youth, sat opposite, puffing in my 
face with all imaginable gravity ; they seemed, in fact, to 
ii4 



278 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

have no idea that it could be offensive to any one. Find- 
ing that wry faces, and other demonstrations of internal 
emotion, were unintelligible to the smoky brains of " the 
men of the pipes," the philosophy of patience, or an exit, 
became subjects of serious consideration. We chose the 
former, and invited as many allies as would join us ; such 
as the admission of as much pure air as could be enticed 
into such a crater, and as many fresh thoughts as might 
be induced to wait upon the uncomfortable soliloquy, — 
were it not for the Jilthiness of the habitj no man should 
attempt travelling in Holland before he has learned to 
smoke ! 

a Mr. * * * *^ have you seen, in the course of your 
reading, the ^Emblems of Francis Quarle,' an old poet, 
who flourished in the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury? Well, sir, among his many hieroglyphics, he has 
one which represents a human being seated upon a globe 
like our own, chained by the leg, to indicate, no doubt, 
the inveteracy of the habit of smoking, for he has a pipe 
between his teeth ; not, indeed, like the Dutch bowls, but 
resembling the polite clay pipe of England. There is a 
little poem beneath the picture, which I cannot quote at 
length, but the following will not be unacceptable : — 

* Come burst your spleen with laughter to behold, 
A new-found vanity, which days of old 
Ne'er knew ; a vanity that has beset 
The world, and made more slaves than Mahomet; 
That has condemned us to the servile yoke 
Of slavery, and made us slaves to smoke.' " 

Yes, but you remember another poet, Spenser, who, in 
his poem entitled, '' The Faery Queen,'' designates it 
<' Divine tobacco !" The poet, however, was suspected of 
complimenting his patron. Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a 
profound smoker. But when James I. ascended the throne, 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 279 

he did not think the filthy habit beneath his royal notice. 
Sis Counterblast to Tobacco acted upon that and similar 
poetic fabrications, as a pair of powerful bellows upon 
cobwebs ; or as a whiff of wind upon these self-same dense 
tobacco clouds. I can give you a quotation from the royal 
production ; would that it might operate upon these revolt- 
ing exhalations : '' Smoking is a custom loathsome to the 
eye, hateful to the nose, hurtful to the brain, dangerous to 
the lungs, and, in the black, stinking fume, the nearest 
resemblance to the horrible Stygian smoke of the bottom- 
less pit. It is not only a sin, in wasting what might be 
better bestowed, and a great vanity, but a great contempt 
of God's good gifts, that the sweetness of man's breath, 
being a good gift of God, should be wilfully corrupted by 
this stinking smoke.'' One of the sayings of this monarch 
was, " That if he were to invite the devil to dinner, he 
should have three dishes, the third of w^hich was a pipe of 
tobacco." I have been informed that this '' Counterblast" 
had such an effect upon the mind of a gentleman in Der- 
byshire, that in making his will, and bequeathing much to 
his eldest son, he had it inserted in the same will, that, if 
any of his brothers or sisters should at any time find him 
smoking, he or she should be entitled to the said goods, or 
their value in money. It is remarkable that a practice, 
which only commenced about two hundred and sixty years 
ago, should have become so universally prevalent. 

The habit, I have been informed, is an acquired one, 
and not attained without considerable difficulty. The 
natural taste is opposed to it. I never could acquire the 
habit; and those who have, generally allow that in the 
first instance it was repulsive. I have been told, that it 
was used in the form of snuff, previous to the art of 
smoking; that instead of puffiing it out at the mouth like 
these Dutchmen, the smoke made its exit through the 
nostrils, which must have had a sublime effect. About a 



280 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

century after it was introduced into Europe from America, 
the habit was declared sinful by divines, and injurious to 
the system by physicians; even sovereigns, as has been 
intimated, opposed it, as being of serious hinderance to the 
prosperity of the commonwealth. Smoking was decreed 
a capital punishment among the Turks, and forbidden in 
Russia, under pain of having the nose cut oS. 

I can well believe this, as I remember reading an article, 
written in the year 1628, of which the following is the 
substance: Forty camels, loaded with tobacco, entered a 
town of Persia, from India. The drivers, being ignorant 
of the prohibition, were seized, and had their ears cropped, 
and their noses snipped. A great hole was then dug, in 
the form of a pipe, and filled with the weed, and set fire 
to. The black vapour spread itself through the town 
during the space of two whole days and nights ; and thus, 
those who loved it, were regaled, while others were annoyed 
with the sickening incense. Well, really, I know not which 
the people of Holland would most deprecate, if they were 
put to the choice, — the cropping and snipping of their ears 
and noses, or thus to have all their tobacco consumed, 
unless the pit were to burn for ever, and a restraint were 
laid upon the four winds of heaven, so as to allow the 
hollow-land [Holland] the privilege of being wrapped in a 
perpetual fog. 

''Really, this does not look much like patience ; but you 
have some philosophy about you. Only look at that old 
man, and the clouds of fume issuing from his mouth. Is 
he the Dutchman, I wonder, of whom it was said some 
years ago, that he only took three smokes in the day; one 
from breakfast to dinner, another from dinner to supper, 
and again from supper till he went to bed?" 

Perhaps you may not have learned from a late English 
or Scotch writer, I am not certain which— and it is no 
matter — the probability that smoking will soon go out of 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 281 

fashion. I was amused with the manner in which he dep- 
recated it: '< To be sure, it is a shocking thing, blowing 
smoke out of our mouths into other people's mouths, eyes, 
and noses, and having the same done to us. Yet I cannot 
account why a thing which requires so little exertion, and 
yet preserves the mind from total vacuity, should go out.'* 

There is a spice of sarcasm in this, perhaps irony, 
I know not which. One thing I wish to say, Holland would 
be the last nation in Christendom I should visit, in hope 
of witnessing the extinction of the practice. 

But I am mistaken in the supposition. See ! the old 
man and youngster have both extinguished their fires, and 
the aromatic ashes have gone out of the coach window. I 
am glad of it ; but I wish conscience, instead of necessity, 
had forced them to it. One day, before I left England, 
I was conversing with an old Methodist class-leader. He 
told me, that one evening, near the completion of his sev- 
entieth year, he was sitting smoking his pipe, as usual, 
when his attention was suddenly arrested ly a voice within^ 
and the following dialogue ensued : '' John, how much time 
dost thou spend over this pipe in the week ?" ''Not less 

than hours." ''And how much money does the 

tobacco cost thee?"* "So much, my Lord." "Well, 
John, dost thou not know several of thy members who 
cannot pay their penny a week to support the Gospel?" 
"It is so. Lord." "Suppose, then, that thou shouldst 
deny thyself burning tobacco, and pray for them ? Again, 
John, some of thy members do not attend their class ; is it 
so ?" " Yes, Lord, it is so." " And there are frequently 

* A friend of mine told me, the other day, that in the year 1843, 
£8,100,449 \8. Ad. was spent by the people of England, alone, in tobacco. 
A tolerably round sum to end in smoke. And that if the weed had been 
worked mio pig- taU^ rather more than half an inch thick, it would have 
formed a line 99,470 miles long; long enough to go nearly five times 
round the world. J. C. 

24* 



282 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

sick persons to be visited, which are neglected; and see 
how much time thou wastest over this pipe !" '' I see it, 
my Lord." ^'Wilt thou, then, abandon the practice from 
this hour ?" " Ay, that I will, my Lord." And, looking 
at me with a cheerful countenance, he said, " Sir, I have 
never touched it since." Dr. Clarke, in his " Dissertation 
on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco," appeals to the slave 
of this pernicious habit, thus : '' There is one argument, 
which is addressed to good-breeding and benevolence, 
which, for the sake of politeness and humanity, should 
prevail. Consider how disagreeable your custom is to 
those who do not follow it. An atmosphere of tobacco 
effluvia surrounds you whithersoever you go. Every article 
about you smells of it ; your apartments, your clothes, and 
even your breath. Nor is there a smell in nature more 
disagreeable than that of stale tobacco, arising in warm 
exhalations from the human body, rendered still more oflfen- 
sive by passing through the pores, and becoming strongly 
impregnated with that noxious matter which was before 
insensibly perspired." 

" Consider, too, what pain your friends may be put to 
in standing near you, in order to consult you on some im- 
portant business, or to be improved by your conversation. 
Will you oblige them to pay so heavy a tax for the benefit 
of your advice, when it would have been more honourable to 
yourself, and comfortable to them, to have had that gratifi- 
cation in a less expensive way ? I cannot help saying, that 
I have often sufi*ered a very painful nausea from the cause 
above assigned, and on which I will dilate no farther." 

Pardon this digression. I cannot, however, drop the 
subject without remarking, that smoking and chewing 
tobacco is the prevailing sin of America, as well as of Hol- 
land, to my wanderings in which latter place I return. 
The atmosphere still proving offensive, the driver kindly 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 283 

provided us with seats outside ; and as the day was very 
fine, the remaining part of it passed most agreeably. 

The ground rises on leaving Utrecht, and swells into 
something like an attempt at little hills; but the road 
itself is perfectly level, with a slight curve in the centre, 
and paved with a species of brick called clinkers. The 
wheels run almost as smooth as if on a railway. Rows of 
healthy trees, beech, elm, and linden, adorn each side of 
the highw^ay for many miles, affording a refreshing shade. 
The houses are generally pretty, and usually approached 
by a nice avenue of stately trees. 

You desire some information respecting the style of 
landscape-gardening in Holland. The gardens of Holland 
appear to be on too small a scale ; this, and the tameness 
of the country, preclude, in a great degree, the possibility 
of introducing that kind of picturesque gardening so pre- 
valent in England. The following remarks will apply very 
generally to the gardens of this singular country : ''Little 
alteration seems to have taken place in the principles of 
gardening, in Holland, since the reign of William III. 
The best specimens are on the banks of the Vecht Canal, 
between Amsterdam and Utrecht. They consist of a suc- 
cession of small enclosures, which every proprietor arranges 
according to his own fancy ; some with clipped arcades of 
lime-trees or chestnuts, with a painting at the end, to con- 
tinue a long line of perspective ; others, with mazes of 
various forms, and hedges of yew, linden, or horn-beam ; 
sometimes there are straight lines of trees, or close arbours 
and berceaux, with banqueting-rooms or summer-houses, 
of six feet square, by the side of a canal, with many- 
coloured doors and windows, and leaden pine-apples with 
green leaves and golden fruit ; parterres of various shapes, 
with neatly cut box borders, diversified with shells, flints, 
coals, brick-dust, and pieces of glass ; rows of auriculas 
in pots, and beds of anemones, hyacinths, and high-priced 



284 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

tulips, With painted figures of the gardener and his assist- 
ant. These gardens are separated from each other by a 
canal or a fish-pond ; they resemble those of the French 
in symmetrical arrangement, and those of the Italian in 
profusion of ornament. They are, however, on a smaller 
scale, and more compact, full of gewgaws and childish 
devices, and intersected by the stagnant canals or lazy 
rivers, which characterize Holland." 

Continuing our journey from Utrecht, we passed through 
several neat towns, the principal of which was Rhenen, 
watered by a rapid branch of the Rhine. Here we en- 
tered the tobacco plantations, which cover many hundreds 
of acres, miles on each side of the road. The tobacco is 
planted in small squares of, say half a rood, sheltered by 
rows of French beans, the vines of which are supported 
by poles, to the height of five or six feet ; the whole im- 
parting a singular and, were it not for associations, a beau- 
tiful aspect to the landscape. Here and there we noticed 
large drying-houses, filled with the leaf, suspended upon 
poles. Our route lay now through a sandy country, sup- 
posed by some to have been the ancient bed of the Rhine. 
Some of the hills to the left seemed to be nothing but 
great heaps of sand, covered with a species of heath and 
fern. Beyond Rhenen we crossed a branch of the Rhine, 
by what is here called ^> flying-bridge ; the first of the 
kind we had ever seen. The principle upon which the 
passage is efi*ected, is the same as that adopted at the 
Ferry, on the Onion River, below Essex, Vermont. That, 
however, is accomplished by suspending a cable of rope 
across the river, a few feet above the water, to which the 
boat is attached ; and shoving the vessel out with the head 
one or two points to the current, the boat oscillates with 
a slow and uniform motion to the opposite side. The 
flying-bridge is more complex. It consists of five small 
boats stationed up stream, about fifteen yards apart, nearly 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 285 

in the centre of the river. The upper boat is at anchor, 
and from it proceeds a chain which passes over a small 
mast in each boat, two or three yards high, extending to 
the bow of the main ferry-boat, which is composed of two 
or three barges bound together, over which is a platform 
for passengers, carriages, &c. The chain which passes 
over all the little boats, is capable of describing a segment 
of a circle ; or sufficient to swing the boat to the opposite 
side of the river. When we got our horses and carriage 
on board, the ferry-boat was set adrift, with the head a 
point of the compass to the stream, the current sheered 
us across with considerable rapidity ; the boats up the 
stream oscillating and' changing points all the time most 
gracefully. It is amusing to hear the travellers of diflfer- 
ent nations name this construction. A German, for in- 
stance, exclaims, Fliegende scMffe-brucke^ the flying bridge 
of boats ; a Dutchman, geer-burg, the bridge in shackles ; 
a Frenchman, le pont volant^ the flying bridge ; while an 
Englishman says soberly, '.'A ferry-boat^ get it over as 
you please, and as soon as you please." The remainder 
of our route lay through a very fertile country ; and we 
arrived at Nimeguen about dark, and put up at a very in- 
difi'erent inn. During a great part of the night there was 
a constant clatter of dishes, shoe-brushing, and high 
Dutch, "high life," not indeed "below stairs," as it 
regarded our location, for we were all on the same story. 
The servants were evidently discussing matters of great 
importance ; the business of the next day, if not the 
affairs of the entire province, in tones of noisy eloquence, 
with occasional interruptions from some prompter or de- 
murrer. Sleep bade me farewell, and, as the old maxim 
runs, "Misery loves company," I awoke Mr. H., in the 
opposite bed, out of a sound sleep, to be an attentive 
auditor to the Dutch orators. At length, as if weary of 
the matter, or out of matter, or falling suddenly under 



286 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

the dominion of Morpheus, all were hushed into silence. 
Next morning we enjoyed a pleasant walk through the 
city. This being the last town in Holland, and within a 
few miles of the Prussian frontier, it is strongly fortified. 
It has stood several sieges ; some with considerable honour, 
and others with disgrace. The effects of the cannonading 
are still visible upon the walls. The mounds and entrench- 
ments outside the walls cover more than three hundred 
acres. We perambulated the entire walls, and obtained 
some fine views of the Rhine, the surrounding country 
and villages. The cathedral, once in the possession of the 
Papists, together with old buildings close by, formerly in- 
habited by the monks, appear to have been profusely 
adorned with images, but in some of the popular commo- 
tions of past centuries, were broken to pieces, or unmer- 
cifully mutilated. About half past five P. M., we went on 
board a steamer, and sailed for Emmerich, where we cast 
anchor at dusk. It is the first frontier town of Prussia; 
and here we delivered our passports and went ashore. 
After a good night's rest, in a comfortable inn, we pro- 
ceeded up the river early in the morning. The Rhine is 
a noble body of water here, but the shores are flat and 
uninteresting. The only cities of importance which we 
passed, were Diisseldorf and Neuss ; the latter stands on 
the right bank, about two miles from the river. We were 
informed that the Rhine washed its walls in ancient times ; 
if so, a remarkable change must have taken place in its 
channel. It was here the allied armies effected their first 
passage across the Rhine. 

The evening was beautiful as we were passing Neuss ; 
and at the gradual approach of twilight, we felt our hearts 
sweetly drawn out in prayer. As we were pacing the 
deck, I remarked to Mr. Holgate, on leaving Diisseldorf, 
and beholding the mighty mass of water sweeping past the 
"walls of tliat ancient city, how wonderful the process of 



TO A FRIKXD IX AMKRICA. 287 

nature was which had supplied, during thousands of 
years, this ''exulting and abounding river," with a never 
ceasing volume of ever onward waters. " This," replied 
Mr. H., " is one of the great arteries of nature; it rolls 
on to the ocean, and from thence ascends to the clouds, 
and so descending again in showers, over an extensive 
continent, forms itself into rills and streams, and so pro- 
ceeds till it is once more the mighty river. While gazing," 
he continued, " at this noble sheet of water, gliding 
silently past our steamer, my mind rested with peculiar 
sweetness upon that beautiful passage in the prophecies 
of Isaiah, ' ! that thou hadst hearkened to my com- 
mandments, then had thy peace been like a river, and thy 
righteousness like the waves of the sea.' Behold it flow- 
ing on, deep, wide, noiseless, unruflJed, and smooth as oil. 
This is just like the peace of God's people. Its depth 
and quantity preserve its smoothness. The steamer, how- 
ever, gives it some trouble. It makes a little noise, but it 
soon regains its quiet, like the peace of the saints of the 
Lord. Broad shallow streams are always troubled in the 
centre ; but this is smooth in every part, notwithstanding 
the jumble of the steamer, because it is all over deep." 
See, it resembles a river of oil ! 

** The air around is breathing balm ; 

The aspen scarcely seems to sway ; 
And, as a sleeping infant, calm, 

The river streams away ; 
Devious as error, deep as love, 

And blue and bright as heaven above." 

What mind, Mr. H., could compute the number of tons 
of water which has gone down this river during the last 
two thousand years ? «' The number is not infinite, but 
it is beyond the grasp of the human mind." Suppose the 
number of drops were required ? '' And yet the whole 
number of drops of water, during two thousand years. 



288 COKTIKEKTAL LETTERS. 

would bear no more proportion to that eternity to which 
the wicked are tending, and Avhich they are to spend in 
' hell-fire' (Matt. 26 : 46), than one drop would bear to 
all the drops contained in the required sum.'* '' Suppose," 
continued Mr. H., «' a sinner were to remain in perdition 
one year for each drop which has rolled down this river 
during two thousand years ; one drop only being absorbed 
in a year ; yet a period would come round in eternity when 
that wretched soul would be liberated ; but the miseries 
of the damned have no such termination.'' That is an 
expressive line of Addison : — 

** Eternity, thou pleasing, dreadful thought!" 

The anticipation of spending an eternity of happiness in 
heaven, is a pleasing thought indeed ; but the prospect of 
a similar duration in hell, is unutterably dreadful : Kac e 

x(k7ivo^ Tfov paaavia/xov avtiov aj^a^atvfc si^ atcoi/a^ atcoj/cov. ^' And the 

smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever." 
Rev. 14: 11. An old divine might well say, ^^No labour 
is hard, no time long, when the glory of eternity is the 
mark we level at." That, too, is a judicious remark of 
another writer of the last century, '' Human nature cannot 
look into eternity without a religious awe. Our thoughts 
are lost in the endless view, and return to us weary and 
unsatisfied, without finding bounds or place to fix upon." 
Writers have been wont to compare the onward flow of 
rivers, to the ceaseless progression of time. I consider 
that a pretty thought of an elegant writer, " Time, like 
,the resistless torrent of a mighty river, sweeps along and 
pours its full tide into eternity." A poet has laid hold 
of the same thought with considerable energy, thus : — 

** The lapse of time and rivers is the same, 
Both speed their journey with a restless strenm ; 
The silent pace with which they steal away. 
No wealth can bribe, no prayer persuade to stay ; 



TO A FRIEND IN AMERICA. 289 

Alike irrevocablie both when past, 

And a wide ocean swallow both at last.'* 

A moralizer says, '' Time and rivers resemble each 
other, but there is this difference : streams do not flow in 
vain, they water, refresh, and beautify ; but time to mul- 
titudes glides along unimproved." This, it would seem, 
assisted the poet to another yerse : — 

** Though each resemble each in every part, 
A difference strikes at length the musing heart : 
Streams never flow in vain where streams abound ; 
How laughs the land with every plenty crown'd ; 
But Time, which should enrich the nobler mind, 
Neglected, leaves a dreary waste behind." 

'' But see ! what an array of lights are ahead ; they 
seem, in fact, to cross the entire river. That must be 
Cologne.'' So it was; and we landed about ten o'clock 
at night, and wended our way to an inn, to which we had 
been recommended by a waiter on board the steamer ; but 
everything in the interior looked so offensive, we left the 
house and sought another hotel. It was Saturday night, 
and we desired to have a comfortable home, where we 
might spend the Sabbath agreeably. We found one quite 
to our mind, and learned a lesson, which we should have 
done before ; for this was the second time we had been 
imposed upon by such functionaries, who, it would appear, 
are frequently employed by low taverns, to procure them 
lodgers. 

The thought has just been suggested, that you would be 
disappointed were I to close this letter without mentioning 
something about the goodness of God to my soul. " If 
thou writest," said one of the Fathers, ^'it doth not relish 
with me unless I read Jesus there ; if thou disputest or 
conferrest, it doth not relish with me unless Jesus sound 
there." I can say, then, Jesus is very precious; he is 
25 



-290 . CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

my delight and the joy of my heart. Please present my 
love to Mrs. * * * *, I often think of you both; some- 
times in connexion with those fine lines : — 

** And when at last you close your gentle eyes, 
Blameless as they were blessed, may you fall 
Into the grave as softly as the leaves 
Of two sweet roses on an autumn eve, 
Beneath the small sighs of the western wind, 
Drop to the earth together." 

I remain, dear sir, your ever affectionate brother in 
Jesus Christ our Lord, J. C. 



LETTER YL 

Coblentz, Prussia, Sept., 1843. 
Dear Sir : 

We arrived here by steamer, last night, from Cologne, 
after a pleasant run of nine hours. The scenery was 
grand, beyond anything we could have anticipated. Before 
I attempt a description, allow me to give you a short his- 
tory of our stay at Cologne. 

On Sabbath morning we walked out in quest of a place 
of worship, and entered a Roman Catholic Church. There 
were about two hundred persons present. The priest was 
busily engaged in paying his devotions to a few images ; 
kneeling first to one, and then to another, but evidently 
adoring all ; now kissing a book, and again swinging a 
censer and raising a smoke ; somewhat more agreeable, 
however, than the kind complained of in my last. Having 
gone through these ceremonies, he began sprinkling the 
faithful few with <'holy water,'' but managed not to allow 
a drop to reach us, taking us, no doubt, for heretics. The 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 21)1 

poor people, principally women, appeared very serious ; 
but their countenances were singularly vacant of anything 
like that intelligent expression so prevalent in a Protest- 
ant congregation. Some were counting their beads, others 
muttering prayers and crossing themselves, but most were 
listlessly observing the graceful motions of the priest. We 
felt sadly out of our element, and withdrew. 

A few yards from this church we passed through a large 
market, in full operation. Proceeding through the city 
to the cathedral, we were shocked to see all the shops 
open, and engaged in business, as on any other day of the 
week. They^did not appear to have any idea that it was 
Sabbath, or that they were under any obligation to keep 
the day holy. But this is a Roman Catholic city, and 
these are the God-dishonouring workings of the abomina- 
ble system. How corrupted may Christianity beconie ! 
The plain Scriptures of Truth, from which these Papists 
have derived some of their most essential doctrines, and 
which they hold in common with other churches in Christ- 
endom, are totally neglected. The commandments of men, 
professing to be Christians, are substituted for the express 
laws of God ; and the word of God is made of none effect 
by their miserable traditions. Popery appears to be left 
to itself in Cologne, without anything to neutralize its 
horrible influence. 

The congregation was large at the cathedral. But how 
different the scene here, from what we beheld on the 
Sabbath we spent at the Hague ! There the Protestant 
minister was unfolding the rich treasures of gospel truth, 
before a deeply attentive and intelligent audience ; and 
when they began to sing, it was the employment of all, 
and ''like the sound of many waters," and Avith a melody 
that took dominion of .the soul ; and when they were dis- 
missed, each, young and old, carried away a copy of the 
Holy Scriptures. But here Ave beheld a company of priests 



292 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

parading tlie liigli altar^ and dressed in a style most the- 
atrical ; now kissing the altar, next a crucifix, then the 
bishop's hand, and again presenting a crucifix to his em- 
brace, waving hands, bowing to images, crossing, swinging 
censers. At length, as if wearied with their exercises, 
they sat down, and a few persons accompanied the organ, 
with a piece more becoming a military parade than the 
sanctuary of God. When this was concluded, the priests 
were again in motion, enveloped in clouds of smoke from 
the censers which they were heaving in the air with no 
small degree of dexterity. A company of little boys, 
gaudily dressed, were employed all the tinje in pursuing 
the steps of the priests, imitating their motions, and, at 
intervals, tinkling bells. With the exception of a few, 
some of whom were intent upon the movements of the 
priests, and others, earnestly engaged before some image, 
as if resolved not to leave it until it had been propitious, 
the greater part of the concourse were in motion, peram- 
bulating the vast area of the cathedral, as if in a fair, and 
we could not but remark the Same vacant stupidity of fea- 
ture which we had noticed in the last congregation ; indi- 
cative of a mind unemployed, or '' starving through lack 
of knowledge." There were some, I allow, who did not 
come under this censure ; but such was the general aspect 
of the mass attending Mass. 

The altars, pictures, and shrines of various saints are 
numerous in this cathedral. Some are evidently very 
ancient. The famous shrine, for instance, of the three 
kings, or magi, who came to worship the infant Redeemer, 
was brought ffom Milan to this city, in the year 1170. 
The pretended skulls of these three men are still darkly 
seen within the tomb. It is stated that they were adorned 
with crowns of gold and precious stones when the " infidel 
French'' carried them away; and when compelled to return 
the skulls in 1804, they did not appear to consider the 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 293 

crowns and jewels included in the demand, and therefore 
the heads were minus of these valuable ornaments, which 
have never since been seen. The " faithful," at Cologne, 
consider these the identical bones of the three wise men. 
Previously to the French Revolution, this tomb was con- 
sidered the most rich and superb monument in all Europe. 

The cathedral of Cologne is in an unfinished state, and 
is likely so to continue. It was intended to be the most 
splendid specimen of the florid gotliic in Europe ; and is 
rarely rivalled as it is. Such a profusion of ornamental 
sculpture ; such an array of turrets, pinnacles, and towers, 
clustered upon one building, we had never before beheld. 

The main tower, though not completed, harmonizes with 
the magnificence of the edifice, and rises to the height of 
two hundred feet. The crane by which the stones were 
raised to their present position is yet on its summit. 
When the masons were ordered to desist, and the scaffold- 
ing was torn away from the unfinished tower, it was left 
there, either through forgetfulness or design ; and there 
it has remained upwards of three centuries. The Roman 
Catholics consider the standing crane as a pledge from 
heaven that it shall yet be completed, and would not have 
it removed on any account. Apart from Popery, it is a 
mournful spectacle, to see weeds and shrubs growing out 
of the exquisite sculpture of this tower ; and the crane, 
as if in solemn mockery at the work of decay going on 
below, announcing the building to be only in progress of 
erection, while, in fact, the whole is rapidly tending to 
dilapidation and final ruin. The tower, which stands at 
a distance from that part of the edifice having something 
of the appearance of a finish, struck us at first as not be- 
longing to the cathedral, till a closer view removed the 
error. This, and another tower, twenty-five feet high, 
were intended to be carried to the height of five hundred 
feet. Tlie dimensions of the interior are on a large scale, 



294 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

and the effects upon the mind most imposing. The pre- 
dominant feeling is a sense of one's own littleness, and of 
the majesty of God. As we glided along from column to 
column, of which there are not less than one hundred ; 
some of them more than thirty feet in circumference, as- 
cending to the height of one hundred and fifty feet, sup- 
porting "the vaulted roof, which seemed another sky;" 
and as we hearkened to the solemn tones of a powerful 
organ, echo multiplying upon echo, answering each other 
along the far extended aisles, and losing themselves in the 
far away recesses of some altar or chapel ; notwithstand- 
ing our prejudices against Popery, we were not, I confess, 
prepared to reject the sentiment uttered by one, " How fit 
a place is this for man to walk and talk with his Maker !" 
Perhaps the following imperfect lines may not be unac- 
ceptable. They were written after our return from the 
cathedral to our hotel : — 

I will not frown upon thee, noble pile ! 
Though one upon thy brow there is; — a deep 
Dread frown upon thy hundred pinnacles ; 
The same on cluster'd columns, thy solemn 
Aisles within ; a frown, like that which lower'd 
On Babel's rising walls, has come on thee. 
'Tas fit, ere God came down in Luther's day, 
To purge his church, to drive from off her walls 
The Babel throng, and look displeasure on 
Their work for aye, that thou, of power and pride 
The offspring, should'st be a sign to nations round. 

By stretching over thee confusion's line, 
And stones of emptiness,* He doomed thee 
A monument of fall'n greatness, and Truth's 

Triumphant era, 

Arrested thus, in midway pomp, and near 
A period so memorable withal ! marked 

-* Isaiah 34: 11. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 295 

With awe the climax of Catholicism, 

And most emphatically, a descent, 

Pauseless and lasting as eternity ! 

Full twice three centuries have pass'd away, 

And so have drifted down duration's tide, 

Since thy foundation stone was firmly laid. 

In florid gothic, and in sculpture rich, 

Uprose the pile, magnificently fair. 

Century to century succeeded. 

And generation after generation ; — 

And workmen still were busied on thy wall ; — 

None inattentive to the vast design ; 

Till suddenly, at length, the builders ceased, 

And left the half-completed tower ; but none 

Have since essay'd to add a single stone;* 

Nor scajBfold, nor aught appears, save that lone crane. 

Whose iron arm extending from the top. 

Entreating, lo ! these seventeen score of years, 

The architect's completing hand, in vain, 

For, **No!''' from Higher Source, is sternly said : 

And weeds, rank midst mould'ring sculpture waving. 

Impressively say, "No!" and, **No!" seems traced 

On hoary arch and crumbling pinnacle, 

As by the finger of Almighty God ! 

Cologne was once one of the most flourishing cities of 
Germany. It extends about two miles along the bank of 
the Rhine, and verges in form to a crescent. Many of the 
houses are lofty ; and if one may judge from their 
remaining decorations, they have been at one time beau- 
tiful ; but their present appearance is gloomy and ruinous. 
The streets are covered with filth, as if they had not been 
swept for years ; and the stench is intolerable. Think of 
this, ye Americans, when enjoying the fragrance of the 
Eau de Cologne ! That I am not alone in this remark, is 
evident from the following sentiments of an intelligent 

* This relates to the tower. Some efforts are being made, I believe, 
\o finish the great uave. J. C. 



296 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

visitor : " Cologne, once the holy city, now the dirty focus 
of decaying Catholicism, loses all its grandeur, and much 
of its interest, on a nearer survey ; it is, beyond q^uestion, 
the dirtiest and most gloomy city of its size in Europe. 
It runs along the Rhine about a league from one wall to 
the other ; its depth is about half a league ; but its streets 
are all shabby narrow lanes, and its places irregular open 
spaces, overgrown with weeds, whose dreary chasms and 
mouldering tenements are only now and then varied by a 
solitary spacious mansion, a gloomy vestige of old-fashioned 
splendour. The people you meet are as motley and miser- 
able as the buildings. It is difficult to give you an idea 
of its squalid wretchedness, of the savage-looking, bust- 
ling crowds, who flew upon us when we landed on the 
quay." The population of Cologne is variously stated; 
it amounts, probably, to about sixty-five thousand. When 
the French took possession of the place, fully one-third 
of the population obtained their living by begging ; each 
person having his appropriate station, which passed as an 
inheritance from father to son. There were also at that 
time, it is stated, two thousand five hundred priests, be- 
sides a large assembly of nuns. 

Cologne is said to be the birth-place of Agrippina, the 
mother of Nero. After her marriage with Claudius, she 
remembered her native place, and conferred upon it sub- 
stantial favours. Latin writers, after this period, speak 
of the city under the name of Colonia Agrippinensis. 
Rubens, the celebrated painter, was also born here. 

On Sabbath afternoon, I passed through one of the 
gates, and walked to a shady spot on the banks of the 
Rhine, above the city, where my soul was favoured by a 
gracious visitation from on high. My heart was full, and 
my eyes overflowed, when reflecting upon all the way the 
Lord my God had led me, these many years, in the 
wilderness. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 297 

Next day we left Cologne, by steamer, and proceeded 
up the river to this city (Coblentz). 

The transition from the beautiful to the truly sublime 
in scenery, was rapid, after leaving Cologne. The seven 
mountains, terminating in as many rugged peaks, the 
loftiest, ^' The castled crag of Drachenfels,'' crowned, at 
the height of eighteen hundred feet, with the ruins of a 
castle, and the mountain of Rolandseck, on the opposite 
bank, present an imposing portal to the gloomy grandeur 
of the ravine, which we were about to enter, and through 
which this exulting river forces the mighty volume of its 
waters. One of these mountains, as if ''in defiance of 
its neighbour" on the other side, advances close to the 
river's brink, but receding suddenly, and joining with the 
other six, they form themselves into a noble crescent, 
rising in front of the Rhine, like a spacious amphitheatre. 

A poet has well described this entrance, and the beau- 
tiful scenery in the vicinity, thus : — 

*' The castled crag of Drachenfels 

Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, 
Whose breast of waters proudly swells, 

Between the banks that bear the vine, 
And hills all rich with blossom'd trees, 

And fields that promise corn and wine, 
And scatter'd cities crowning these, 

Whose far white walls along them shine. 
Above, the frequent feudal towers. 

Through green leaves lift their walls of gray, 
And many a rock which steeply towers. 

And noble arch in proud decay. 
The river richly foams and flows, 

The charm of this enchanted ground, 
And all its thousand turns disclose 

Some fresher beauty varying round. 
The highest breast its wish might bound. 

Through life to dwell delighted here ; 
Nor could a spot on earth be found, 

To nature and to me so dear." 



298 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

The river, now compressed within narrow limits, became 
very impetuous, sometimes almost a match for our steamer ; 
but its sudden expansion into what may be termed a suc- 
cession of small lakes, imprisoned amidst the mountains, 
relieved the vessel, and prepared her for an encounter with 
the next rush of the torrent. 

We noticed a certain point where the current was run- 
ning with a tumultuous and accelerated velocity, and were 
informed the boatmen of the Rhine name it, Gotteshulfe, 
that is, Grod's help. Poor fellows, this is much needed 
here, especially when the Rhine is on the throne of his 
power, and the roar of his majesty is heard among the 
mountains, 

" The boatmen of the Rhine, in fact, require help," says 
a writer, '' even where there is little or no danger. They 
are the most clumsy and inexpert watermen, in the manage- 
ment of small craft, that can well be imagined. In a- com- 
mon boat there are generally two men ; one at the head 
with a wooden rake, shaped like those which our scaven- 
gers use to rake the mud in the streets ; with this the man 
pulls the water towards him ; the other on the stern, either 
with a similar rake or flat paddle, pushes the water from 
him ; so that, with pushing and pulling, they contrive to 
move the boat, clumsily and slowly enough, through the 
water. The larger boats are towed generally along the 
right bank by as many horses as may be necessary. It is 
not uncommon to observe eight of them tracking one of 
the larger kind against the stream. In descending, they 
have only to take care that the head be kept down the 
stream, and the current does the rest of the work for 
them." 

Castles in ruins, on either hand, are numerous. , Their 
varied forms and positions, on mountain peak, rugged cliffs, 
and amidst tangled thickets, have an effect exceedingly 
beautiful and picturesque. The mountains, '^ composed 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 299 

chiefly of black basalt and argillaceous slate," rise boldly 
from the water's edge, some of them rugged and bare, and 
others covered with vines ; terrace rising above terrace, 
loaded with luxuriant grapes, extending along jutting cliffs 
and frowning precipices, and ascending over the gray and 
barren ribs of the mountains, almost to their summits : — 

"Mountains that show 
Inscribed, as with the silence of a thought, 
Upon their bleak and visionary yides, 
The history of many a winter storm, 
Or obscure records of the path of fire." 

The inhabitants, taking advantage of the many wind- 
ings of the river, have planted their cities and towns on 
the angles; and ''man's inhumanity to man," in past 
ages, has compelled them to raise around them walls and 
ramparts. The church spire, overtopping trees and war- 
like towers, assures the thoughtful voyager that the citi- 
zens look for a better country, that is, an heavenly ; and 
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and 
maker is God. Heb. 11 : 10, 14. 

It is, dear Sir, impossible, in the short space of a letter 
to describe all the interesting objects which drew forth our 
admiration during this one day's journey. Had I at- 
tempted even the names of towns, villages, castles, &c., 
my epistle would have swollen into a dry and tedious 
catalogue. The scenery was to me of an entirely new 
order, compared with anything I had before seen. We 
arrived in this city a little past seven o'clock the same day, 
and put up at the Giant Hotel, a princely establishment, 
where we are at present most agreeably accom.modated. 
Farewell. J. C. 



300 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

LETTER VIL 

Mayence, Germany, Sept., 1843. 
Dear Sir : 

Our stay at Coblentz was short. On the morning of 
our departure, we crossed the Rhine on a compact bridge 
of boats, and ascended to the heights, contiguous to the 
celebrated fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, where we enjoyed 
a most beautiful and extensive prospect. Coblentz, in its 
glory, lay beneath, on the opposite side of the river. The 
city stands upon a tongue of land, in the form of a perfect 
triangle ; one side of which extends along the river Mo- 
selle, and the other is watered by the Rhine ; the third 
side occupies the entire breadth between the two rivers 
inland. The city has its name from its situation, at the 
confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle, — Confluentia^ or 
Coblentz. The Rhine with its islands, Coblentz with its 
walls and numerous spires, and a rich and extensive land- 
scape, dotted with many towns and villages, lay beneath 
our eye ; a combination, in fact, of as beautiful and mag- 
nificent scenery as, perhaps, our world affords. At our 
feet reposed the little town of Thai ; and, on our right, 
the frowning ramparts of Ehrenbreitstein^ that is, " Rock 
of Honour." The fortress has an aspect peculiarly com- 
manding and warlike ; such an array of bastions, ramparts, 
battlements, and round towers, I have never before be- 
held ; at least, in such a giddy and fearful situation. The 
entire summit of a perpendicular rock, rising eight hundred 
feet above the level of the Rhine, is covered with them. 
Here and there, upon every jutting crag, is to be seen a 
bristling battery or threatening tower, " which, but to look 
at," said one, 'Us enough to make a peaceable man trem- 
ble." 

This rock has long been appropriated to the purposes 
of war, having been first fortified by the Romans. '' There 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 301 

was a castle here," says the historian, " in the time of the 
Emperor Julian/' The fortress, during the Swedish war, 
was attacked on the south side by an army of forty thou- 
sand men, and on the north, at the same time, by the 
French army ; yet their united power could not reduce it, 
and it was abandoned as impregnable. 

The truce of Leoben proved its ruin. It was then in 
the possession of the French, who, doubting whether they 
could retain it, dismantled the works and blew them up. 
The rock was terribly shaken by the concussion, and 
masses of it came down with a tremendous crash. A 
celebrated poet has thus immortalized it, in its season of 
desolation : — 

" Here, Ehrenbreitstein, with her shatter'd wall, 
Black with the miner's blast, upon her height, 
Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball 
Rebounding idly on her strength, did light ; 
A tower of victory ! from whence the flight 
Of baffled foes was watched along the plain ; 
But peace destroyed what man could never blight, 
And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain. 

On which the iron showers for years had pour'd in vain." 

Thus perished what was considered one of the strongest 
fortresses in Europe ; and " peace destroyed what man 
could never blight." And thus, we said, it has been with 
many a real Christian. Founded upon the Rock of Ages, 
and built up on his most holy faith, — 

** Strong in his strength, as stood a tower, 
Impregnable to earth and hell.'* 

But, alas ! he who passed unharmed through the fiery 
ordeal of persecution and sore temptation, repelling victo- 
riously every attack of the enemy, continuing all the while 
a burning and shining light, has, on the cessation of hostili- 
ties, — during a truce, offered by the enemies of his Lord, — 
26 



302 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

fallen from his own steadfastness. How many such have 
we known, thus standing up for God, in the glory of a 
high and holy calling, surprised in an unguarded and un- 
suspected moment, stripped of their defensive armour, and 
shorn of their strength like Samson ! — by some sudden 
gust of temptation, their religious profession and hopes 
of heaven have been blown to atoms, like the ancient for- 
tress of Ehrenbreitstein ; thus, — 

** Peace destroyed what man can never blight." 

Another poet well expressed our feelings : — 

*' Far more the treacherous calm I dread, 
Than tempests breaking o'er my head." 

His Prussian Majesty has caused the blackened frag- 
ments of the ruined fortress to disappear. The torn gran- 
ite ribs of the old rock have been united again by piles 
of solid masonry. Walls above walls have arisen ; and, 
" Like a sculptured Cybele," as one has somewhere ex- 
pressed it, with a coronet of towers, turrets, and battle- 
ments, that rock has once more reared its crested head for 
the defence of Germany. 

And thus has God upraised many a wretched backslider, 
under my ministry, since my arrival on this side of the 
Atlantic. Hallelujah ! Brought back again, within the 
dominions of Emmanuel, having his iniquities pardoned, 
his soul cleansed, and being once more reinstated in the 
divine favour ; — I have seen the backslider armed a second 
time in the panoply of heaven, adorned with a coronet of 
the choicest blessings of his God, and enabled again to 
lift his head with confidence for the defence of the religion 
of his Saviour. 

Excuse me, my dear Sir, but I begin to feel as if out 
of my element, although my health is all the better for 
this relaxation. I have seen much of the beautiful and 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 303 

the grand since I left England, but nothing equal to the 
interesting scenes peculiar to a revival of religion : — 

"More grateful to Religion's eye, than spring, 
With her unnumbered tints of ever changing hues, 
To nature's own, — the poet, — is the sight 
Which grace exhibits, in its wond'rous work, 
When souls from death are quicken'd into life, 
Or churches, Phoenix-like, from ashes spring. 
All clad in beauty, rich as angels wear." 

We recrossed the river, and departed by steamer for 
Mayence. Shortly after leaving Coblentz, we entered a 
deep ravine, which continued twenty-five or thirty miles. 
The river, contracted between mountains, which rise in 
many places on either side, like huge black walls, rushes 
most impetuously ; but the succession of little lakes, singu- 
larly scooped out of the mountains, is an admirable arrange- 
ment of Providence ; the fury of the torrent of waters 
being thereby greatly lessened. Having passed through 
a series of these lakes, our admiration at the ingenious 
manner in which the crew had managed to conduct the 
vessel thus far, was succeeded by the query, '' How is it 
possible for them to extricate her out of the labyrinth 
which lies before us, for we are enclosed by mountains 
which interlace each other in every direction?" But, not 
unlike the interventions of Providence, in our spiritual or 
temporal affairs, when we are at our '^ wit's end," and an 
outlet from our difficulties seems next to impossible, just 
then the Lord interposes, and we are compelled to ex- 
claim, — 

" Almighty ProTidence ! exceeding thought, 
"NVhere none appears, can make itself a way !" 

So, following the river, which threaded its way through 
"mountain difficulties," our passage gradually opened 
before us ; indicated, generally, by the defying aspect of 
two or more mountains, which seemed to have but just 



304 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

sufficient courtesy to let us pass, ere they came together 
with a crash. How illustrative this of that fine sentiment 
of an elegant writer: " There are few difficulties that hold 
out against real attacks ; they fly, like the visible horizon, 
before those who advance. A passionate desire, and an 
unwearied will, can perform impossibilities, or what seem 
to be such to the cold and feeble. If we do hut go on^ 
some unseen path will open among the hills.'' 

It is no easy matter, I find, to convey to you a proper 
idea of the many sublime scenes which met our view at 
every turn of this beautiful river. The mountains, covered 
with hanging vineyards, rise from the water's edge in bold 
and rugged grandeur, crowned with crumbling castles, or 
shattered fortresses, " Tenantless, save to the crannying 
wind, or holding dark communion with the cloud.'' Pretty 
towns, with " rampired walls" and shining spires, repose in 
sweet seclusion at almost every angle of the river : — 

** And aU its thousand turns disclose, 
Some fresher beauty varying round ; 
A blending of aU beauties ; streams and dells, 
Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, corn-field, mountains, vines^ 
And cheerless castles, breathing sad farewells. 
From gray but leafy walls, where ruin greenly dwells." 

It was quite a sacrifice to leave the deck for dinner ; but 
some of us were up and down a dozen times during the 
meal, to the no small amusement of one who considered 
that " everything should have its season," but who could 
admit of no degrees of comparison between the luscious 
exhibition upon the table, and those " nice things" upon the 
shore ; fit only for the eye, which never can be satisfied 
with seeing. We retorted that the old maxim was not true 
in all cases, " There is no accounting for taste," as we could 
readily account for his. An hour or two afterwards, the 
same gentleman was sitting on deck, quietly enjoying his 
pipe, when a large mass of rock came away from the brow 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 305 

of the mountain, roaring like a piece of artillery. He 
was on his feet in a moment, beckoning us, with violent 
gestures, to come and see. We were by his side in time to 
see the landing-place of the descending fragments ; but the 
opportunity for complimenting his '' enthusiastic develop- 
ments," when unembarrassed by table associations, was not 
overlooked by a few of the witty passengers. 

As we approached a very gloomy part of the ravine, 
three small cannon were drawn out upon the forward deck, 
and charged. " The first object that attracts the notice 
of the passenger is a naked mass of black rock, singularly 
curious, whose strata appear to have been thrown up and 
disrupted, and the great basaltic tablets and columns piled 
on each other in hideous disorder." This is the famous 
Lurleyberg, or Wisperthal, that is, the repeating mountain ; 
so called, from an echo multiplying itself several times in 
the vicinity. When close under the overhanging rocks, 
the sharp notes of two or three muskets, from the opposite 
shore, were echoed and re-echoed, and carried along the 
crags and deep ravines, as upon so many keys, till they 
died away in some secret dell, or distant cavern. But this 
was only a prelude to the three cannon tune ; one discharge 
after another, succeeded in quick succession. The echoes 
were tremendous ; as if the whole neighbourhood of moun- 
tains were uniting in the chorus. 

The waters around the base of the Lurleyberg were 
very turbulent. There is an old legend current among the 
boatmen of the Rhine, that a ivater-nymph has her resi- 
dence here. It seems, many of their brethren have been 
charmed into security by the voice of the syren, — which 
may have been nothing more than alcohol, the mocker, 
Prov. 20 : 1, — and then dashing them against the rocks, 
has cast them within the circle of the vortex to their de- 
struction. Some of the towns, on the banks of the Rhine, 

have a mean and poverty-stricken appearance, and abound 
26* 



306 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

in shattered towers and crumbling walls ; but they har- 
monize so well with the grim majesty of mountain, rock, 
and ruin, as not to offend the eye ; and, joined with their 
picturesque situation, impart a pleasing interest to the 
scene. The manner in which the little sheets of the 
Rhine are imprisoned and sheltered by the mountains, 
secures for them a smooth and glassy surface, which 
serves as a mirror for the ruins above ; reminding one of 
that fine verse by an Irish poet : — 

*' On Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman strays, 
When the clear cold eve is declining; 
He sees the round towers of other days, 
In the wave beneath him shining." 

We arrived at Mayence about dark, and put up at the 
Hotel d'Angleterre. The grand panorama, composed of 
the first order of things, which has passed before us these 
two days, has left an indelible impression upon our mind ; 
and has furnished us with a series of beautiful images, to 
which we shall ever recur with delight. I think it is Mil- 
ton, who says, ^' It were an injury and suUenness against 
nature, not to go out and see her riches, and partake in 
her rejoicings with heaven and earth.'' Sullen indeed, 
must that spirit be, that would not be delighted with the 
scenery of the Rhine ; for who could gaze upon it, with- 
out having awakened within him, apprehensions the most 
lively, of the majesty of God, and the grandeur of his 
works ? And such is the power of association, that the 
works of man, mingling with those of his Creator, — the 
mossy battlements and ivied towers, sublimely mouldering 
on jagged projections, of cliff and precipice, — so far from 
lessening the feeling, increase it. So much for the Rhine 
as it is ; but the Rhine as itwas, — as it was in the twelfth, 
thirteenth, fourteenth, and sixteenth centuries, recalls 
other associations. Let the mind only throw itself back 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 307 

in contemplation upon those eventful times ; the scenes 
of treachery and bloodshed, to which these mountain 
crags, and frowning ruins, have been the mute witnesses ; 
the circumstances which rendered the erection of these 
strongholds necessary ; the superstitious monks and law- 
less brigands which occupied them ; the suflferings endured 
by many wretched victims incarcerated in the dark damp 
cell ; the deeds of tyranny and murder perpetrated within 
their gloomy chambers ; such stern and disgusting recol- 
lections, go far to correct that romantic admiration which 
many travellers entertain of the chivalry of past ages. 
Reminiscences like these, damp the pleasurable sensation, 
in a religious mind, and impart a tinge of mournfulness, 
when luxuriating amidst the majesty of Rhine scenery. 
A certain poet, who never was over nice about such mat- 
ters, seems to have been affected somewhat by the same 
feeling, when he here composed the following lines : — 

" Beneath these battlements, within those walls, 
Power dwelt amidst her passions, in proud state, 
Each robber chief upheld his armed halls, 
Doing his evil will, nor less elate 

Than mightier heroes of a longer date. 

In their baronial feuds and single fields, 
What deeds of prowess unrecorded died ! 
And love, which lent a blazon to their shields. 
With emblems well devised by amorous pride. 
Through all the mail of iron hearts would glide ; 
But still their flame was fierceness, and drew on 
Keen contest and destruction, near allied, 
And many a tower for some fair mischief won, 
Saw the discolour'd Rhine beneath its ruin run. 

A thousand battles have assailed thy banks, 
But these and half their fame have pass'd away. 
And slaughter heap'd on high his weltering ranks, 
Their very graves are gone, and where are they V* 



308 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Sucli views, however, need not deter the Christian tra- 
veller from being thankful to God, that he lives in the 
present enlightened age. Honour^ and what is this but 
honesty and good faith? — is no longer subjected to ^' the 
fantastic touchstone of chivalry," but is now the product 
of wise and just laws, to which the powerful and the weak 
are alike amenable, and supported by the truths of our 
holy religion, ^' The middle ages,'.' says a writer, ^^were 
too fertile in oppression, and in misery, to be regarded with 
anything like regret, that their character and spirit have 
not been stamped upon the times in which we are living." 

The length to which I have extended this letter, pro- 
hibits me, even were I not straitened for time, to say much 
upon the subjects to which you have referred. ^'It is," 
says a good man, '^ unfortunate when a man's intellectual 
and moral character are not suited to each other. The 
horses in a carriage should go the same pace, and draw in 
the same direction, or the motion will be neither pleasant 
nor safe." And the remark is equally true, that '^the 
want of harmony between the talents and the temperament 
is often found in private life ; and wherever found, it is 
the fruitful source of faults and sufferings." The latter 
circumstance may be one of those balances which God not 
unfrequently permits to accompany great talents^ to neu- 
tralize the occasions of pride, '' To humble thee, and to 
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart." Deut. 8 : 2. 
It is most disagreeable, nevertheless, to those who may be 
necessitated to associate with such a person, although it 
may be greatly overruled for the good of the individual 
himself. I feel, however, disposed to treat the case as 
charitably as I can, unless there is more concealed than 
you have expressed. Every year only shows me, that 
whatever may be the weight of my little talent, it is more 
than balanced by numerous infirmities, which lay me daily 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 309 

in the dust, crying, '^ Every moment. Lord, I need the 
merit of thy death." 

And our mutual friend, * * * *^ has gone home to 
heaven. " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: 
for the end of that man is peace." It was only this morn- 
ing, I was meditating upon his amiable and admirable 
character, aided by the following lines, which are true to 
the life : — 

** Holy learning, sacred arts, 
Gifts of nature, strength of parts ; 
Fluent grace, an humble mind, 
Worth reformed, and wit refined ; 
Sweetness both in tongue and pen, 
Insight both in books and men ; 
Hopes in woe, and fears in weal, 
Humble knowledge, sprightly zeal, 
A liberal heart, and free from gall. 
Close to friend, and true to alL" 

May my ''last end," and thine, be like his! Amen. 

I remember reading a passage in the '' experience" of 
Luther, which may illustrate, in some degree, those pro- 
vidential difficulties which oppress Mr. * * * *. u Upon 
some affair of great consequence, which had occurred in 
some providential dispensations, he was very importunate 
at the throne of grace, to know the mind of God in it ; 
and it seemed to him as if he heard God speak to his heart 
thus, 'I am not to be traced.' " If he is not to be traced, 
he may be trusted; and that religion is of little value 
which will not enable a man to trust God where he can 
neither trace nor see him. But there is a time for every- 
thing beneath the sun, and the Almighty has his " times 
and seasons." It has been frequently with my hopes and 
desires, in regard to providence, as with my watch and the 
sun, which has often been ahead of true time ; — I have 
gone faster than providence, and have been forced to stand 
still and wait^ or I have been set hack painfully. That 



810 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

was a fine sentiment of Flavel, " Some providences, like 
Hebrew letters, must be read backwards." 

Everything is beautiful in its season ; providential bless- 
ings have their season; they come as flowers do, some 
earlier and others later; but if we r-efuse to enjoy thank- 
fully one class of favours, till we have, along with them, 
others that are desirable, we may place ourselves in a 
position to be illustrated by a figure adopted by a great 
writer : ^' It is, as if one would undertake to gather at the 
same time primroses and violets, and roses and gillyflowers, 
to make a nosegay, when some of these are withered ere 
the others be budded." 

That providences do occur, the reasons for which are 
profoundly secret, I admit, but none of them are unjust. 
It will require another world to explain all the mysteries 
peculiar to this. The Lord deals very roughly sometimes 
with some of his servants, because he has tried them, and 
knows they may be trusted: ''For I know him," said the 
God of Abraham, " that he will command his children and 
his household after him, and they shall keep the way of 
the Lord, to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord may 
bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." 
But the same servant of God ''was called to go out into a 
place which he should after receive for an inheritance ; 
and he went out, not knowing whither he went." By such 
persons the Lord gives some of the noblest exhibitions of 
the power of grace, and triumphs of faith. I have noticed 
at what a tremendous speed they drive the locomotive, 
when upon those parts of the road where they have perfect 
confidence in the rail. An old divine compares a perfect 
Christian to a die^ which, however it be thrown, always 
falls upon a square ; — cast him where you will, he will 
always fall "sure and square" for honesty and holiness. 

I met with a remark, when reading, the other day, which 
I think may be of use to our friend j it was this : The 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 311 

Athenians, when they were in the greatest danger at sea, 
always cast out the great anchor, called, '' The Holy 
Anchor/' So let him commit the keeping of his soul to 
God in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Let him 
cast anchor on Christ, and hold fast by that faithful promise, 
«' I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." As for poor 
afflicted Mrs. ****'§ case, that she is frequently "cast 
down,'' is not to be wondered at ; I should wonder more, 
considering the nature of her disease, were it otherwise 
with her ; nor should she, on that account, write bitter 
things against herself, though the devil may tempt her to 
do so. " Ah ! Lord," said a good man in affliction, when 
he saw a bird trying to fly, but weighed down by a stone 
hanging at its leg, " Ah ! Lord, thus it fares with the soul 
of thy servant ! Fain would I serve, glorify, and enjoy 
thee ; but a distempered body will not let me. However, 
it is reviving to think, that though I am now forced to 
crawl like a worm in the discharge of my duties, I shall 
shortly fly like a seraph in the execution of thy will. 
Cheer up, my soul, the time is at hand w^hen thou shalt be 
made more willing than thou art, and thy flesh not weak 
as now." 

I remain, ever dear Sir, in strong afi'ection to you and 
Mrs. * * * *^ as ever in Jesus Christ, 

J. C. 



LETTER VIIL 

Manheim, Sept., 1843. 
Dear Sir, 
We arrived here to-day from Mayence, and intend to 
sail, about ten o'clock to-night, for Strasburgh, France. 
Manheim has long been considered one of the finest 



312 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

cities of Germany. It is situated at the conflux of the 
Neckar and the Rhine. No city that I have hitherto vis- 
ited, has reminded me so much of Philadelphia, U. S., 
not so much in form, for Manheim is oval, nor yet in size, 
as it is much smaller; but, like Philadelphia, it is laid oif 
into squares, with the regularity of a chess-board ; the 
streets crossing each other at right angles. The houses 
are tastefully constructed, and the public buildings have 
an aspect quite imposing. There are numerous fountains 
in all parts of the city, which are elegantly decorated ; 
these, and the healthy trees, abounding in the streets, 
must difi'use an agreeable atmosphere during the summer 
months. The sight of running water in warm weather, 
frequently communicates a refreshing sense of coolness. 

The pleasure grounds, which nearly encompass the city, 
are laid out in handsome walks, bordered with flowers, and 
clumped with trees and shrubs, and are free both to citi- 
zens and strangers. The hour we spent in walking over 
these grounds, this afternoon, has been the most agreeable 
since we left England ; although they encircle a busy and 
populous city, there is in them a kind of wilderness soli- 
tude. The plants, flowers, and shrubberies, are well man- 
aged, as to arrangement ; and the walks are in perfect 
order, shaded in all directions with luxuriant trees. 

Manheim suffered severely from the bombardment in 
1795, but it appears to have quite recovered itself, with 
the exception of the Royal Palace, which is of great mag- 
nitude, but a melancholy ruin. 

As we are completely tired with the excursions of the 
day, and have a couple of hours to spare, before the arri- 
val of the steamer, I shall employ them in giving you 
some particulars, connected with our visit to Mayence and 
Frankfort. 

Mayence is an old city of Germany, and describes some- 
thing like a semicircle. It stands upon the left bank of 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 313 

the Rhine, below its junction with the river Maine. Al- 
though it belongs to a German prince, Austria and Prussia 
garrison it. This arose from the decision of the Congress 
held at Vienna, owing to the importance of the place, and 
the inability of the prince to furnish a sufficient garrison. 
The fortifications are strong and extensive, and require, in 
time of war, 80,000 men. The streets are narrow, crooked, 
and gloomy, and we saw but few buildings worthy of par- 
ticular notice. 

The cathedral, built of red sandstone, looked well, with 
its fine old Gothic tower, of the same material, and adorned 
with fretwork and pinnacles. The interior was greatly 
injured by the French, who wreaked their fury upon every 
building devoted to the worship of God. 

The ancient Electoral Palace, with its two immense 
wings, is a striking object, standing as it does, close to 
the Rhine. Its fluted pilasters, and pretty capitals, richly 
adorned, make a good appearance; but why they amalga- 
mated their own strange and fanciful designs, while aim- 
ing at some of the majestic lineaments of Grecian archi- 
tecture, we could not determine : Chaqiie pays a sa guise^ 
— every country has its fancy. 

In our walks through the city, we met with a fountain, 
in a small square, of ingenious workmanship. The Rhine 
and the river Maine are represented by the well-executed 
figures of two old men. A couple of lions are employed 
in spouting water, and a handsomely sculptured obelisk 
stands in the centre of the circular basin. 

** Symmetrical, but deck'd with carvings quaint, 

Strange faces like to men in masquerade, 
And here perhaps a monster, there a saint : 

The spring gush'd through grim mouths of granite made, 
And sparkled into basins, where it spent 

Jts little torrent in a thousand bubbles, 

Like man's vain glory, and his vainer troubles." 
27 



814 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

The country around Mayence is considered the most 
fertile in all Germany. The city contains about 86,000 
inhabitants, and 12,000 Prussian and Austrian soldiers. 

Mayence contests with Haarlem the honour of having 
invented the art of printing, and to prove their preten- 
sions to a demonstration, the citizens erected a bronze 
statue of Guttemburg, in 1837. The matter, however, 
was thoroughly investigated by the learned, some years 
ago, and the glory unanimously conceded in favour of 
Haarlem. 

It was admitted, that the art received important im- 
provements at Mayence, by the invention of cut metal 
types ; Costar having only used wooden types. Mayence, 
it seems, would have had as little pretence for such a claim, 
as the other cities on the Rhine, but for the knavery of 
Geinsfleisch^ Costar's servant. While his master and 
family were at the Haarlem Church, on a Christmas eve, 
he stole the types and necessary apparatus, absconded, and 
settled at Mayence, where he printed his first book in the 
year of our Lord 1442, twelve years after Costar had 
issued his ^^ Mirror of Human Salvation." Geinsfleisch 
was soon afterward joined by Guttemburg, who assisted 
him in the invention of cut metal types. 

The new types were first employed in printing an edition 
of the Bible. Such was the infancy of the art, that it 
required eight years for its execution ; and it appeared in 
1450. In the year 1462, a second edition of the Bible 
issued from the press at Mayence, but much more beauti- 
ful and expensively printed. One of the firm sold it in 
Paris, as manuscript^ at a very high price ; as the Parisians 
regarded such an extraordinary number of copies as the 
product of nothing short of magic. Thus, so late in the 
fifteenth century, so totally ignorant of the art of print- 
ing were the learned men of the great metrppolis of 
France. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 815 

The next improvement in printing, was that of having 
the letters cast, instead of being cut. And so important 
was this discovery of casting types considered, and so 
fearful were the proprietors of the press at Mayence, of 
its becoming known in Europe, that an oath of secrecy 
was administered to all the workmen. God, it would seem, 
frowned upon the covetous and monopolizing scheme. 
After the second edition of the Bible had been put into 
circulation, Mayence was taken and sacked by a powerful 
enemy. The workmen connected with the press, fled from 
the city, and were scattered over Europe ; as the first 
Christians were dispersed from Jerusalem, that they might 
go everywhere preaching the truth as it is in Jesus. The'se 
men let the secret out, and in an incredibly short time 
every principal city in Europe had its press, according to 
the most improved plan at Mayence. It is remarkable, 
that the printing-press which was invented at an early 
period of the art, and probably in Holland also, continued 
in its original form till within sixty or seventy years ago. 
I should like to note down other information connected 
with the progress of printing in this country, but the 
steamer will be alongside soon, and this letter must be 
finished. Mayence is deservedly famous, on account of 
the first edition of the printed Bible coming out from its 
press. Having gratified our curiosity at Mayence, we 
crossed the Rhine on a bridge of boats, for Frankfort. 
This bridge is different from the flying-bridge, described 
in a former letter. The river, opposite Mayence, is seven 
or eight hundred yards wide. The bridge is composed of 
fifty-two pontoons or barges, stationed a few yards apart, 
but united to each other by planks, and each is attached 
to the bottom of the river by a strong chain cable and 
anchor. Vessels passing up and down the river, are 
accommodated with a passage by dropping one or two 
barges down the stream, which are replaced again in a few 



31fj CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

momentSj by means of machinery. The steamboat wharfs 
along the Rhine, are constructed upon two or more of 
these bargee ; and unlike those upon the rivers and lakes 
of America, which are frequently covered with water to the 
depth of several feet, or, in times of drought, stand so far 
above the -steamer, as to make the descent difficult and 
sometimes dangerous ; these rise and fall with the river, 
and are always on a convenient level with the deck of the 
vessel. We were amused when crossing this bridge, by 
another advantage taken of the river, by the people of 
Mayence. Below the bridge, at anchor, are another set 
of boats, twelve or fourteen in number, extending nearly 
to the centre of the river. On board of each, is the entire 
apparatus of a flour-mill. Each boat is accommodated 
with a wheel on each side, resembling those of a steam- 
boat, which are turned by the current, at the rate of, say, 
five or six revolutions per minute, and propel the machi- 
nery within. The construction of the machinery is on 
the accelerating scale, proportioned to the revolutions of 
the wheels ; the internal motion of which is rapid and 
powerful. The dip of the wheel is at the command of the 
miller, as the draught of the boat must vary according to 
the amount of grain on board. These mills run day and 
night. 

Leaving the bridge, we were conducted to the railway 
depSt, and were in Frankfort in one hour and a half. 
Frankfort is a free city of Germany, and decidedly the 
most splendid we have seen since leaving England. The 
city stands upon the banks of the river Maine, thirty-five 
miles eastward from Mayence, and has been well named, 
"A city of palaces.'/ The opulence of the merchants, 
and the numerous plenipotentiaries of the German states, 
who attend the diet, have originated not a few of those 
princely mansions which meet the eye in various direc- 
tions. Frankfort was anciently the residence of the 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 317 

Frankish monarchs. Some of the hotels were formerly 
the palaces of German princes, which may account for 
their magnitude and magnificence. These royal edifices 
have determined, no doubt, the architecture of the inferior 
hotels ; and this may have given rise to the sentiment, that 
no town in Germany, nor even in Europe, is more cele- 
brated for excellent inns. Frankfort is one of the princi- 
pal commercial towns of Germany ; and the route to most 
of the chief roads of that country, lying in the direction 
of Frankfort, and an extensive region to the south, which 
is dependent on her for necessary commodities ; and as, 
besides, many of the literary characters of Germany, and 
men versed in every branch of the arts and sciences, reside 
here, a vast concourse of people is annually attracted to 
the city. Everything in and around Frankfort, wears the 
appearance of wealth and prosperity. The architecture 
of the public buildings displays great taste and beauty of 
design.* 

We were amazed on reaching the suburbs, at the extent 
of the public gardens, open to all the world. The ancient 
ramparts, redoubts and glacis, have been levelled, and con- 
verted into serpentine walks, which run through crowded 
groves, shrubberies, and banks of flowers, which nearly 
encompass the city. After a refreshing walk through 
these enchanting grounds, we re-entered the city, and 
visited the cathedral. From the summit of the tower, we 
enjoyed an extensive and beautiful prospect ; but, on visit- 
ing the interior, and looking around at the array of pic- 
tures and images, with devotees kneeling before them, 
and gazing on them with expressions of the most profound 
adoration, our hearts recoiled at the scene, and with 
mournful spirits we hastened away from what appeared to 



* Other important matter, designed for this volume, will not allow me 
to iiirsert the architectural details. J. C. 



318 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

US, idolatry the most degrading. We did not learn the 
number of inhabitants ; but I believe the Jews are not 
fewer than 10,000. Protestantism (Lutheran) is the esta- 
blished religion ; but the Roman Catholics are very nume- 
rous, and still hold possession of the Cathedral alluded to, 
— a gothic structure, very ancient, erected, it is said, by 
Pepin of France, and greatly enriched by Charlemagne. 
We tarried only one night in Frankfort, and returned 
next day to Mayence, and went on board a steamer which 
was about to sail for this city (Mannheim). While standing 
on deck, and noticing a number of persons collected on 
the floating bridge, during the passage of a boat through 
it, and the crowd continually increasing from the opposite 
shore, I heard a serious gentleman observe to another : 
" How much. Sir, do those people collected upon the frag- 
ment of that bridge, remind one of the multitude assem- 
bling daily on the brink of the Jordan of death, from all 
parts of the world ; some waiting to cross over to the hea- 
venly city, and others to a worse destination I" 

*< Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death, 
To break the shock blind nature cannot shun, 
And lands thought smoothly on the farther shore !" 

The barges came back to their stations, the gulf closed, 
and the accumulated mass passed over, while stragglers 
were yet scattered here and there on various parts of the 
moving bridge. 

I must now close this hasty scrawl. I have noted down, 
lean as they are, the only observations of interest which 
came in our way. 

You may, on the whole, observe, we have been disposed 
to be pleased; an accomplishment this, of no small im- 
portance to travellers. As I do not intend to return to 
England before the latter part of next month, you may 
expect several additional letters from various parts of this 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 319 

continent. My health, I have reason to thank God, is 
much recruited ; and I hope to return prepared to enter 
upon my beloved work with renewed vigour. Time will 
not allow me to lengthen this letter. With much love to 
you and yours, I remain, your brother in Jesus Christ, 

J. C. 



LETTER IX. 

Strasburg, France, Oct., 1843. 
Dear Sir, 

My last was dated at Mannheim ; on the same night our 
little steamer proceeded up the Rhine for this city. We 
had no other accommodation during the night, than the 
narrow seats of the cabin ; but, wrapped in our cloaks, 
with a portmanteau for a pillow, we contrived to get some 
sleep. The next day found us still pressing upward 
against the current. The weather was cold and rainy, 
the shores low, and covered with reeds and rushes. A 
range of mountains was in sight many hours ; but they 
seemed as shy of the Rhine, as if none of their kindred 
had ever honoured it with a place on its majestic banks. 
The noble river is quite emaciated and dishonoured in this 
region, not only by far-extended and intrusive swamps, 
but by schism also ; it is divided and subdivided, in many 
places, till there was scarcely channel sufficient for the 
small dimensions of our small steamer. 

When wearied with reading below, we amused ourselves 
l)y observing the ingenuity of our helmsman, in turning 
the sharp angles of the river, which he accomplished most 
dexterously. Another little steamer, bound for the same 
port, and belonging to another company, bristled along- 
side, as if daring us to a race. The glances of the helms- 



320 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

men did not indicate that '^ there was much love lost be- 
tween them !'' Both did their utmost, and sometimes we 
apprehended they would run foul of each other, with a 
crash. The crews of both were silent, but some of them, 
especially the men at the helm, looked defiance with a 
vengeance. At length our cunning antagonist, taking 
advantage of certain windings of the stream, which our 
prudent captain thought proper to avoid, puffed away 
through a succession, of what we landsmen termed, near 
cuts, and so left us far behind. 

When within a couple of miles of Strasburg, we were 
locked into a canal, and steamed it up to the city, where 
we arrived about dark. We were surprised to find that 
the French officers did not demand our passports, which 
was perhaps well, as we had not taken the precaution to 
obtain the signature of a French consul. But the rain 
came down in torrents, and darkness along with it, which 
made the officers glad, I believe, to get clear of us. I 
should not wonder if these steamboats and railways put 
down eventually,, the petty passport system, which prevails 
upon this continent. Steam^ and passpo7^t motions, as the 
latter are transacted in this country, are incongruous ; 
they will neutralize each other ; but steam will obtain the 
victory, and will not stop for them. To this I can heartily 
say, ^' Amen !'' 

A coach was in readiness, and we were conducted to 
L' Hotel de la Fleur [Saturday night], 

Monday/. — Yesterday, we visited the cathedral. A Ro- 
mish priest was holding forth in French, most vociferously, 
on the attributes of a good Catholic. The congregation 
was very small, and formed a half -circle in front of the 
pulpit. The women, among whom were several nuns, were 
seated on chairs, but the men were generally standing, and 
looked as if they were listening to something in which they 
had very little interest, and would about as soon go as 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 821 

stay ; and yet, they lingered till the close of the service. 
The women seemed more interested and devotional. The 
group, clustered as they were in the centr^of an immense 
and seatless area, capable of containing five or six thou- 
sand people, had a lonely and desolate appearance. 

As we proceeded along the side chapels, we found many 
engaged before pictures and images, while numbers were 
promenading the cathedral at pleasure ; some criticising 
the paintings, and others reading inscriptions ; and all 
this during the sermon ! The Roman Catholics appear, 
in all the churches we have visited, to have no regard for 
anything like joint worship ; each shrine has its own devo- 
tees ; here they offer their devotions, paying no attention 
to each other whatever. The priest gave himself no con- 
cern about those in other parts of the edifice, whether they 
should draw near to hear, or amuse themselves at a dis- 
tance, but seemed as if all intent to finish his task. " Faith 
cometh by hearing^'' saith the Word of God; but the 
Papists, it would seem, consider it must come by seeing. 
The pulpit was without Bible, or book of any kind y but 
the priest was there; — quite an appropriate exhibition 
this, of Popery. 

The astronomical clock in this cathedral is a surprising 
piece of mechanism. The computations of time, connected 
with the movements of the heavenly bodies throughout the 
year, are laid down with curious precision. Our globe, 
with its proper inclination, occupies a position upon the 
end of a large cylinder, and performs rigidly its revolutions. 
Several years were employed in the construction of this 
clock ; and from an inscription near it, we learned that it 
was put in motion for the first time, when The Scientific 
Association of France held its sittings in this city a short 
time ago. 

In one of the side chapels, which, if we may judge by 
the number of worshippers, is a favourite ; we noticed a 



322 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

picture of the Virgin, seated at the right hand of Christ. 
Her left arm enfolds the cross, and her right is extended 
for the encour%gement of a group of penitents below ; and 
at the bottom of the painting, is the following prayer, which 
I had the curiosity to copy: — 

Marie, puissante Heine du del et de la terre, d'im- 
mortelles louanges et actions de grace vous soient r endues ! 
Cest par votre intercession que le Tres Haut a exauce nos 
priSres. Which may be translated thus : " Mary, 
powerful Queen of Heaven and earth ; immortal praises 
and thanksgiving be rendered thee ! It is through thy 
intercession that the Most High has heard our prayers/' 

Upon one of the columns in the nave, over a font of 
'' holy water," we read a written advertisement, which con- 
cluded thus : II y a Indulgence de sept ans et d'autant de 
quarantaines pour tous les monhres de V association qui con- 
fessent et eommunient et qui visit eront ladite chapelle et y 
prieront aux fins ordinaires selon V intention de sa Saintete; 
^ette indulgence est aussi applicable aux dmes du purga- 
ioire. The following is a translation : '' There is an indul- 
gence of seven years and as many forty days, for all the 
members of the association, who, having confessed their 
sins, and communicated, shall visit the said chapel, and 
shall there pray, according to the intention of His Holiness 
the Pope. This indulgence is also applicable to the souls 
in purgatory.'* 

How anti-scriptural and soul-destroying are the doctrines 
put forth in the above documents ! But this is Popery, and 
it is the same all the world over !* 

This day [Monday] has been devoted to city scenes. As 
the cathedral is the principal object of attraction to all 
strano'ers, we made it a second visit. It is considered one 
of the finest specimens of the architecture of the middle 
ages. It consists of a nave and choir, without a transept. 
The entire length of the interior is three hundred and fifty- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 323 

five feet, and the breadth of the nave, one hundred and 
thirty-two feet ; height, seventy-two feet. A screen sepa- 
rates the choir from the nave. Two rows of massive pil- 
lars, nine on each side, divide the nave from the side aisles. 
The windows are filled with stained glass. A rose window, 
forty-eight feet in diameter, adorns the east end, and is 
exquisitely beautiful. The walls of the choir are the most 
ancient, as they were built about the middle of the eighth 
century ; the other parts, with the spire, are the work- 
manship of the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 
centuries. 

From the year 1015 to 1028, it is stated, on historical 
authority, that upwards of one hundred thousand men were 
employed upon its walls, numbers of whom were foreigners ; 
and that the wages of many of them were paid in pardons 
and indulgences. St. Peter's at Rome, it would seem from 
hence, was not the only church built by such means, and 
that the nefarious trade in indulgences had been practised 
by the Popish priesthood, long before Luther was raised up 
to grapple with the horrible imposition. 

When the Romans subdued this country, tradition says, 
a tree stood upon the site occupied by this cathedral, under 
the shade of which the Celts worshipped their god, Esus. 
The Romans cut the tree down, and built a temple to one 
of their fabled deities. The rapid progress of Christianity 
in the fifth century resulted in the overthrow of the Roman 
temple, and hastened the erection of a Christian church 
upon the same site ; but the edifice had scarcely stood a 
century when it was destroyed by Attila and his Huns. 
The entire town was then desolated by the devastations of 
these barbarians ; and continued so till the sixth century, 
when Clovis, King of the Franks, renewed the place, re- 
built the church, and allowed the town to be called Stras- 
burg, which signifies the town of a street. This church, 
being of wood, perished ; and, during the eighth century, 



324 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

as I have before remarked, the present edilBce was com- 
menced. 

Attractive as is the cathedral for the richness of its 
sculpture, its crowning ornament is the splendid spire, the 
elevation of which is, I believe, unsurpassed, as its beauty 
is unrivalled. It rises in a succession of truncated columns 
and pinnacles, exhibiting the openness of lace-work, and 
resting upon arches ; tier growing out of tier, and spring- 
ing and tapering upward, with a support so fragile as to 
destroy the idea of solidity. Strength^ however, it must 
have, or it could not have weathered the storms of so many 
centuries ; but it is so admirably constructed, and yet so 
combined with a certain airy lightness, that, in some points 
of view, when its open work is distinctly seen, it looks, as 
one has somewhere expressed it, <^ more like a filmy paint- 
ing upon the sky, than a solid edifice." When the entire 
outline of this far ascending column is embraced by the 
eye, it has all the charm of a picture of faultless beauty. 

I met, the other day, with a few excellent remarks, by 
a French writer, on the perfection to which the ancients 
carried the architecture of spires ; and as his critique is 
applied to that of this cathedral, I hope you will not con- 
sider the extract out of place. '' The ancient architects 
excelled in the construction of spires. They seized in a 
marvellous manner the spirit of that sort of work, and 
carried to the utmost length the artifices upon which it 
depends. They possessed the secret of uniting in their 
erections lightness and delicacy of workmanship to ele- 
gance of form ; and, avoiding equally the over-attenuated 
and the over-massive, they attained the precise point in 
which consists the true beauty of this description of build- 
ing. Nothing of this kind is to be compared to the cathe- 
dral of Strasburg. This superb pyramid is a master -piece 
of skill, ravishing our senses at once by its prodigious 
elevation, the exactness of its gradual dimensions ; its pleas- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 325 

ing shape, the justness of its proportions, and the exqui- 
site finish of its workmanship. I do not believe that any 
other architect ever produced a work so boldly imagined, 
so felicitously conceived, and so admirably executed. 
There is more art and genius in this one performance than 
in all else that we have most wonderful in architecture." 

The height of this famous spire has been variously esti- 
mated, and by some extravagantly. The measurement 
allowed to be most accurate, makes it four hundred and 
ninety-four feet high, being thirty feet higher than the 
largest pyramid of Egypt, fourteen feet beyond that of St. 
Paul's, London, and exceeding the dome of St. Peter's, 
Rome, by about seven feet. It is ascended by a stair of 
six hundred and thirty-five steps. 

After ascending two hundred and fifty feet, we were 
introduced into a succession of truncated turrets, which 
rise tier above tier, and were told to '' monter^'' with a sig- 
nificant elevation of the finger. Proceeding upward, it 
was really alarming to recognise our position ; poised be- 
tween heaven and earth, at such a fearful height, supported 
by slender stones put together five hundred years ago, and 
so slight the tracery between us and the thin atmosphere, 
that the whole appeared little better than " a bird-cage 
suspended in the air." We felt constantly annoyed with 
the idea that the spring of our footsteps would deprive the 
frail fabric of its perpendicular, and then away we should 
have gone to the pavement, where men appeared as if re- 
duced to the size of children.* 

Our courage, however, increased as we mounted, and 
after ascending a few score of additional feet, and finding 



* I see a notice, in one of the late papers, that this beautiful spire, the 
highest in the world, has lately given way six feet from the perpendicular, 
and that its immediate fall is anticipated. J. C. 

Huddersfield, Jan. 11, 1845. 
28 



326 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

a convenient position to look around, we paused. Several 
foreigners were already there making their observations ; 
and when we were all chattering away in otir different lan- 
guages, we thought of the tower of Babel (Gen. 11 : 1, 
9), and quite seriously about a descent ; not at all agree- 
ing with the Italian proverb, E meglio sdrucciolar co piedi 
che colla lingua^ " It is better one's foot make a slip than 
one's tongue." 

The view from the spire was very jBne : — the city and 
its extensive fortifications ; the various and far-away wind- 
ings of the Rhine ; together with an extensive sweep of 
country, embracing parts of Germany, and most of the 
province of Alsacia, with the Vosges Mountains. 

Strasburg, you are aware, is a fortified city of France, 
and the strongest fortress of that country, on the German 
frontiers. Some of the streets are regular and spacious, 
but like most walled towns, the streets are generally nar- 
row, and not at all cleanly. The houses are high and 
massy, and show their German origin in their architecture. 
They are built principally of a kind of red stone, dug 
from the quarries along the Rhine. The fortifications of 
the town are after the manner of a regular pentagon, as 
a military man would express it, composed of five bastions 
and as many half-moons. The citadel lies towards the 
east ; and, with its outworks, covers a vast extent of 
ground. It is at present garrisoned by six thousand 
troops. The city contains, we were informed, a population 
of sixty-two thousand souls. 

I have just time to say, farewell. J. C. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 327 

LETTER X. 

Bale, Switzerland, Oct., 1843. 
Ever dear Sir : 
Having gratified our curiosity at Strasburg, we left by 
railway for this city, and arrived here about dark, ninety 
miles from Strasburg. We had a very pleasant ride up 
the plains of Alsacia, — considered one of the most pic- 
turesque provinces of France. Here armies, large as 
Europe could muster, have met in mortal conflict. These 
plains are said to have been the scene of thirty great bat- 
tles, besides many skirmishes and sieges. The railway 
runs along the east side of the Vosges Mountains. Old 
castles, some of them of considerable magnitude, frown 
down from many of their craggy peaks, and recall centu- 
ries gone by, when those strongholds held these fertile 
plains in terror ; but they are now harmless as the dust 
of those who once occupied them. They are there as a 
part of the mountains themselves, and seem as imperisha- 
ble ; — as if preserved by Providence to bear their mourn- 
ful testimony against by-gone ages, when — 

** Man's inhumanity to man, 
Made countless thousands mourn !" 

And, we reflected, if those dark and stormy spirits who 
built, or provoked others to build them, were only permit- 
ted to revisit the shattered battlements and towers, and 
from thence to scan these lovely plains, sprinkled with 
pretty villages, inhabited by a quiet and contented popu- 
lation, and enlivened with fruitful fields and smiling vine- 
yards ; and were they to look out upon the triumphant 
march of science, displayed upon this long line of road, — 
an immense train of cars, loaded with passengers and 
costly merchandise, flying along, at the rate of thirty miles 



328 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

an hour, and drawn by a metal steed, or, as the Indians 
call it, '^ A fire horse/' ''A fleshless steed, whose pulses 
le^p with floods of living fire,'' — with what remorse and 
horror would they reflect upon the infatuation, and acts 
of infernal cruelty, perpetrated by themselves and their 
antagonists, when, — 

*' With bail of iron and rain of blood, 
They swept and scathed these vales!" 

But, have they ceased to exist ? Is the past, to them, 
lost in oblivion ? Nay ! The death-struggle no more 
annihilated such mortal remembrances, than it did their 
immortality. And may not a recollection of the part 
they performed in such bloody scenes, if they died unfor- 
given, impart a keener anguish to the inflictions of a re- 
tributive justice ? May they not be more intimately 
acquainted than we are aware, with the rapid march of 
the moral and religious improvements of our times ? — per- 
haps with' that of science, agriculture, and commerce? 
If they do know anything of what is going on amidst the 
scenes of their former exploits, and have with this know- 
ledge, a conviction, that, had their conduct been of a dif- 
ferent character, similar blessings might have crowned the 
millions who groaned and bled beneath their oppressions ; 
is it not highly probable, that such reflections may now be 
adding sharper torments to the fires of an enkindled hell ? 
^' There is no war among men," says Plutarch, ''but 
what arises from some vice ; either from immoderate lust, 
or from covetousness, or from , ambition, or immoderate 
love of glory." ''And," says the learned Jortin, "wars 
are the desolation of populous and flourishing regions, the 
loss of trade, the increase of taxes and debts, poverty, 
both public and private, the destruction of thousands, and 
the ruin of almost as many families, besides the sicknesses, 
the famines, the iniquities and cruelties, which always 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 329 

accompany a state of hostility, and follow the camp." 
<« It would have proved a striking part of a vision pre- 
sented to Adam after the death of Abel/' says a writer, 
^' to have brought before his eyes, half a million of men, 
crowded together in the space of a square mile. When 
the first father had exhausted his wonder on the multitude 
of his offspring, he would naturally inquire of his angelic 
instructor, for what purpose so vast a multitude had been 
assembled. What is the common end ? Alas ! to murder 
each other ; all Cains, and yet no Abels !'* 

Perhaps the above sentiments may tend to cool the 
ardour, and check the enthusiasm of * * * * and * * * * *^ 
for ''the grandeur of military exploits," whether for 
national advantage or individual glory. Such a spirit is 
utterly inconsistent with the religion of the Son of God. 
The point to which the Gospel is continually tending, is 
the total banishment of war from every part of our planet. 
'' So soon as Christianity shall gain a full ascendency in 
the world, from that moment war is to disappear. In the 
days of perfect righteousness, there will be no more war. 
So soon as the character of man has had the last finish 
of Christian principle thrown over it, from that moment 
all the instruments of war will be thrown aside, and all its 
lessons will be forgotten. ' And he shall judge among the 
nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they shall 
beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into 
pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more.* " Isaiah 
2:4. 

I cannot deny myself the privilege which the present 
opportunity affords, of sending you a few remarks from 
the pen of one who thought and felt deeply upon the mis- 
eries of war. Would to God, that his sentiments might be 
imbibed by every citizen of the United States, that hence- 
forth, they may turn away with instinctive horror, from 
28* 



330 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

any and every proposition that would tend to embroil the 
nation in war. The spirit engendered by past successes 
in the fearful game of war, has a frightful tendency to 
impel a young, prosperous, and ambitious nation to hazard 
another, which may not be attended by such flattering 
results ;* especially, if undertaken through the. impulse of 
pride, ambition, revenge, or an avarice which grasps for 
riches and dominion, though obtained at the expense of 
many thousands of lives. That old proverb is far from 
being true, when applied to the United States : " War is 
pleasant to none, but to those who have never tried it." 
Herein lies her danger. By war, has the providence of 
God permitted her to be elevated to a name and place 
among the nations of the earth. As rivers are traced to 
their source, so multitudes, forgetful of their God, refer to 
war as to the fountain-head of all the rights and privileges 
which they enjoy, and in which they glory as American 
citizens. I repeat it ; herein lies her danger, and the germs 
of her dovmfall, unless counteracted by the grace of God. 
And much as many of the great and wise have ridiculed 
the revivals of religion, which, during the last thirty or 
forty years, have extended over the length and breadth of 
the United States, and which have resulted in the conver- 
sion of many hundreds of thousands to God, I consider 
such effusions of the Holy Spirit, the palladium of the 
nation's safety. Nothing else, in my opinion, can preserve 
the tranquillity of that highly-favoured country. I rejoice 
greatly in the fact, and take it as a pledge of good, not- 
withstanding the warlike swagger of some, that millions of 
the American people compose the congregations of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and one million of the popu- 
lation are enrolled members within her pale ; who meet in 
class, and from week to week rejoice in the God of their 
salvation; while they declare they enjoy the love of God 
shed abroad in their heart by the Holy Ghost given to 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 331 

them : — a feeling, this, as totally opposed to war, as light 
is to darkness. 

Well, I can assure you, when I lifted my pen, I had not 
the least intention of writing so much upon this subject. 
Perhaps the above remarks may be overruled for some 
good end, as also the following sentiments, to which I re- 
ferred in the last page : " How dreadful to hold every- 
thing at the mercy of an enemy, and to receive life itself 
as a boon, dependent on the sword ! How boundless the 
fears which such a situation must inspire ; where the issues 
of life and death are determined by no known laws, prin- 
ciples, or customs; and no conjecture can be formed of 
our destiny, except as far as it is dimly deciphered in 
characters of blood, in the dictates of revenge, and the 
caprices of power ! Conceive, but for a moment, the con- 
sternation which the approach of an invading army would 
impress on the peaceful villages in this neighbourhood ! 
When you have placed yourselves for an instant in that 
situation, you will learn to sympathize with those unhappy 
countries which have sustained the ravages of arms. But 
how is it possible to give you an idea of these horrors? 
Here you behold rich harvests, the bounty of Heaven, and 
the reward of industry, consumed in a moment, or tram- 
pled under foot ; while famine and pestilence follow the 
steps of desolation. There, the cottages of the peasants 
given up to flames, mothers expiring through fear, not for 
themselves, but their infants ; the inhabitants flying with 
their helpless babes, in all directions, miserable fugitives 
on their native soil. In another part you witness opulent 
cities taken by storm ; the streets, where no sounds were 
heard but those of peaceful industry, filled on a sudden 
with slaughter and blood, resounding with the cries of the 
pursuing and the pursued ; the palaces of nobles demol- 
ished; the houses of the rich pillaged; the chastity of 



332 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

virgins and of matrons violated ; and every age, sex, rank, 
mingled in promiscuous massacre and ruin. 

The injury which the morals of a people sustain from an 
invading army is prodigious. The agitation and suspense 
universally prevalent, are incompatible with everything 
which requires calm thought and serious reflection. In 
such a situation, is it any wonder the duties of piety should 
fall into neglect, the sanctuary of God should be forsaken, 
and the gates of Zion should mourn and be desolate ? 
Familiarized to the sight of rapine and slaughter, the 
people must acquire a hard and unfeeling character. The 
precarious tenure by which everything is held during the 
absence of laws, must impair confidence ; the sudden revo- 
lutions of fortune must be infinitely favourable to fraud 
and injustice. He who reflects on these consequences, 
will not think it too much to affirm, that the injury the 
virtue of a people sustains from invasion, is greater than 
that which a0<ects their prosperity or their lives. He will 
perceive that by such a calamity, the seeds of order, virtue, 
and piety, which it is the first care of education to implant 
and mature, are swept away, as by a hurricane. 

The morality of peaceful times is directly opposite to 
the maxims of war. The fundamental rule of the first is 
to do good ; of the latter, to inflict injuries. The former 
commands us to succour the oppressed ; the latter, to over- 
whelm the defenceless. The former teaches men to love 
their enemies ; the latter, to make themselves terrible, even 
to strangers. The rules of morality will not sufi'er us to 
promote the dearest interest by falsehood ; the maxims of 
war applaud it, when employed in the destruction of others. 
That a familiarity with such maxims must tend to harden 
the heart, as well as to pervert the moral sentiments, is too 
obvious to need illustration." But to return to the plains 
of Alsacia : there is an air of deep tranquillity thrown 
around the numerous towns and villages, as they appear 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 333 

from the railway ; some repose in the lap of the mountains, 
others more advanced in the vale. On a summer morning, 
irradiated by the ascending sun, they must have a charming 
aspect. Our route lay through luxuriant vineyards, loaded 
with grapes. Arriving at Bale, we put up at The Hotel 
of the Tiiree Kings. On retiring to our room, I remarked : 
We are now in a strange city,— the entire place was 
shrouded in darkness when we entered it, and night has 
spread a still darker pall over slumbering Bale. All is 
silent as the grave, or far-off sky. How ignorant we are 
of the appearance of the city, or surrounding landscape ! 
But when the morning arrives, those dim outlines, which 
we have but obscurely seen through the gloom of night, 
will then be perceived with clearness and certainty ; till 
then we must have faith in our geographical and historical 
knowledge. And thus it is, I have been thinking, with 
dying persons. Though quite on the verge of eternal 
scenes, yet the things revealed in the Bible, as belonging 
to eternity, can only be realized by faith : '' Clouds, alas ! 
and darkness rest'' upon them. But as the morning light 
shall make us familiar with this fine old city, the windings 
of the Rhine, and the appearance of Swiss scenery, which 
now encompasses us on every side, so with one departing 
this life, — the night of death is succeeded by the daylight 
of eternity, when all those realities, which were but mat- 
ters of faith, are clearly revealed to the astonished soul ! 
That is an admirable verse of Mrs. Hemans, the reply of 
a mother to her inquiring child : — 

**Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy, 
Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy, 
Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, — 
Sorrow and death may not enter there ; 
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom, 
Far beyond clouds, and beyond the tomb ; 
It is there, it is there, my child!'* 



334 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Some years ago, during a Sabbath-School anniversary 
in the city of New York, a child came forward on the plat- 
form, and repeated, with a deep, clear voice, the following 
lines. The thrilling effect upon the thousands present, 
will never be forgotten : — 

**Tell ine, my secret soul, 

! tell me, Hope and Faith, 

Is there no resting-place 

From sorrow, sin, and death ? 

Is there no happy spot, 

Wliere mortals may be blest, 

Where grief may find a balm. 

And weariness a rest ? 
Faith, hope, and love, best boons to mortals given. 
Waved their bright wings, and whisper'd, * Yes! in Heaven.' " 

Next morning we enjoyed a long walk through the city. 
The houses are generally of stone, very neat and comfort- 
able ; some, indeed, are elegant, and the greater part of 
them impress a stranger with the idea that the inhabitants 
are in easy and independent circumstances. We passed 
through several streets, very narrow and very crooked ; 
the houses betraying great age ; but there are many streets 
and squares, spacious and noble ; and cleanliness, quite 
the opposite of Cologne, everywhere prevails. The num- 
ber of fountains is extraordinary ; some have their source 
within the town, and others are supplied from the river 
Birs, which falls into the Rhine, above the city. 

The Rhine divides the town into two parts, larger and 
smaller Bale, or Basle, or Basil, for it has several names, 
and is connected by a bridge, six hundred feet in length. 

Bale is considered the wealthiest city in Switzerland, 
and enjoys an extensive trade w^ith Germany, Franco, and 
the Italian states ; as also with the interior of Switzerland. 
It embarked very early in the Reformation, and still con- 
tinues a Protestant city. 



CONTIXEXTAL LETTERS. 335 

Bale has its society " For Promoting Christian Know- 
ledge and Practical Piety/' which has accomplished, we 
have been informed, great good in various parts of Switz- 
erland, Germany, Prussia, Holland, and Denmark. The 
formation of the ^'British and Foreign Bible Society,'' in 
1804, was hailed with great pleasure at Bale ; and a kin- 
dred association, in connexion with it, was immediately 
formed, which has been well supported by the clergy and 
laity. Upwards of one hundred thousand copies of the 
Holy Scriptures have been printed and circulated by this 
society, among Christians and Jews, Protestants and Ro- 
man Catholics ; in Hebrew,* German, French, Italian, 
Romanese, and various other languages. 

* The following, as a note, was written by a friend of mine, in this 
city, who read with interest the MS. letter of my account of Bale, and 
handed it to me with permission to insert it. 

"Bale has been famed from almost the infancy of the typographical 
art, for beautiful editions of the sacred text. The Rev. James Everett 
has in his library, York, the Hebrew Bible, printed at Bale, by Sebastian 
Munster, in the year of our Lord 1546. I transcribe a note from his 
Life of the learned Dr. Clarke, entitled, * Adam Clarke Portrayed ;' which, 
besides its information, will prove a matter of curiosity to all interested 
in the history of the * Wesley Family :' * The Hebrew Bible, used by the 
Rector of Epworth, was a copy of the second edition of Sebastian Mun- 
ster; printed at Basil, 1546, folio; and the fact (stated by Dr. Clarke) 
of diligent reading, is confirmed by the rector himself, both at the begin- 
ning and end of the Pentateuch, in his own handwriting. The first 
volume, containing the Pentateuch, is now in the possession of the bio- 
grapher. The collation, says Dr. Clarke, which was done at Wroot, 
exists in the margin, and is one of the most curious specimens of care- 
ful, laborious, and accurate criticism I have ever seen. The volume 
itself appears to be the only surviving wreck of the Rector's collection for 
his projected Polyglott ; and what became of his other preparations for 
the work. Dr. Clarke was never able to ascertain.' 

*'Mr. Everett, as you will perceive, refers to the literary pursuits of 
the Rev. J. Wesley's father, with which the text stands connected. You 
are, no doubt, aware, too, that Munster was born in Ingelheim, was 
educated at Heidelberg, entered into the order of the Cordeliers, but left 



oob CO:STINENTAL LETTERS. 

During the continental war, Bale was often in imminent 
peril, especially in the year 1815, when God wonderfully 
interposed in beh?Jf of the place. The inhabitants recog- 
nised the hand of the Almighty in their deliverance ; and 
in the fullness of their gratitude, inquired, " What shall 
we render unto the Lord for all his benefits?" A transi- 
tion of their thoughts from late perils, to those to which 
a world of sinners are exposed, was easy and natural. 
The salvation vouchsafed to their city, reminded them of 
the ^' great salvation." The Gospel, too, had been their 
support, when threatened with destruction ; and how could 
they express their gratitude better, than by sending that 
Gospel to those who had it not ? A Missionary Society^ 
therefore, appeared to be the most appropriate monument 
they could raise ; this, and the establishment of a Mission- 
ary Seminary^ for the education of pious young men, as 
missionaries to the heathen and Mahomedan tribes, were 
the blessed results. Each has been in extensive operation 
now nearly thirty years ; one hundred missionaries have 
gone forth from that institution, some of whom have plant- 
ed the standard of the cross among a variety of Mahome- 
dan tribes, in the Russian, Turkish, and Persian empires; 
and others have devoted themselves to the reviving of the 
ancient churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; such as 
the Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, and Abyssinian 
churches ; and it is said, they have been the means of re- 
kindling, in many places, the flame of Christian love and 
faith. Nor have the Jews been overlooked by this benevo- 
lent society at Bale ; efforts have been made for the con- 

thein to join Luther, and settled at Basil, where he succeeded Pelicnnus 
in the Hebrew professorship, where he died, 1552, about six years after 
he published this second edition of his Latin Version of the Bible, with 
Notes. I may add, Mr. E. has also an entire copy of the same edition, 
in fine preservation." 

I had great pleasure, a few days ago, in seeing the volume referred to. 

J. C. 

York, Sept. 10, 1845. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 337 

version of the descendants of Abraham, — those, espe- 
cially, who are dispersed through the cities of Algiers, Tu- 
nis, and Tripoli. The largest number of their missionaries 
appear to be in the East Indies, and in Western Africa. 

The cathedral is a venerable pile, of the eleventh cen- 
tury. There was a church upon the same spot in the ninth 
century, which was destroyed by an earthquake. The sex- 
ton, a very intelligent old man, pointed out some of its 
fragments, which had been incorporated into the present 
church. Another earthquake, in the fifteenth century, 
injured the town severely, but the cathedral was spared. 

The tomb of Erasmus was, to us, the principal object 
of attraction. He died here, July 4, 1536, aged seventy 
years. 

Here, also, died that eminent servant of Christ, Cas- 
talio, who ofiended Calvin on the point of absolute pre- 
dCvStination, and brought upon himself the vengeance of 
that singular man. Calvin is allowed by the most unpre- 
judiced writers, to have been most intolerant in his reli- 
gious opinions. He was a persecutor, both in principle 
and practice. Indeed, he wrote a Treatise on the neces- 
sity of violent measures for the defence of the faith, and 
contended that it was lawful to put heretics to death ; 
certainly he gave the most convincing proof, as to how he 
interpreted the word ^'heretic," as well as of his sincerity 
in the propositions laid down in the Treatise referred to, 
when he condemned poor Servetus to the flames, — an act 
which has left an indelible stain upon his memory, and 
which, I do not recollect that any of his followers have 
ever attempted to vindicate or justify. 

Historians agree, that the conduct of Calvin towards 
the learned Castalio was harsh and severe ; and that the 
language he used towards him was scarcely fit to appear 
upon paper. Among the many methods he adopted to 
blacken Castalio 's character, was a charge of " stealing 
29 



338 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

wood to warm himself withal; cursed gain," he added, 
'' at another's expense and damage." This charge arose 
out of the following circumstances : Castalio, in conse- 
quence of Calvin's persecution, was reduced to great 
poverty ; and as he dwelt upon the banks of the Rhine, 
he employed his leisure hours in drawing pieces of wood 
to shore, by means of a hook. This wood was no private 
property, but every man's that could catch it. Castalio 
took it in the middle of the day, amongst a great many 
jBshermen, and several of his acquaintances ; and was some- 
times paid money for it, by a decree of the senate. This 
the charitable Calvin mystified into a theft, and published 
it to the world. Castalio's letter to Calvin, on this occa- 
sion, was touching: ^' Being totally occupied with my 
translation of the Scriptures, and resolved rather to beg 
than to quit it, as I dwelt on the banks of the Rhine, I 
employed myself at leisure hours in catching with a hook 
the floating wood which it carries down in its inundations, 
that I might warm my family." And, after calling upon 
the inhabitants of Bale, to witness the truth of his state- 
ments, he added, '' I could not have thought that you, who 
knew me so well, could have credited such a charge ; and 
that you should have published it to the whole world, and 
transmitted it to posterity, is what, although I know you, 
I could not easily have believed." Other accusations, 
brought forward by Calvin, were quite as groundless. 
Castalio had an excellent moral character. But Calvin 
could not rest satisfied ; he endeavoured to excite the civil 
magistrates against him, with a view to have him put to 
death ; and prohibited his writings from being circulated ; 
holding him up as '^ impious, a base corrupter of the sacred 
writings, a crooked-minded vagabond, and a heretic." And 
all this, for choosing to think for himself; but great allow- 
ance, perhaps, should be made for the spirit of the age, as 
religious toleration was then but little understood. Castalio 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 339 

died in this city, in the year 1563, at the early age of forty- 
eight, universally respected. His Latin translation of the 
Bible is considered the most elegant and classical version 
which has yet appeared in that language. He also trans- 
lated the Bible into French, and printed it at Bale, in 
1555. We had a noble view from the spire of the cathe- 
dral. The mountains are not sufficiently stupendous, to 
impress the mind with images of grandeur ; but the cres- 
cent-like form, and the graceful manner in. which they rise 
above and beyond each other, in long and continued out- 
line, together with the breadth of light and shadow, and 
the soft tone of colouring with which they were invested, 
presented to the eye a pleasing and beautiful picture. We 
counted more than thirty villages in the area between the 
mountains and the city. 

After dinner, we crossed over the Rhine to " Smaller 
Bale;" a stream of water, clear as crystal, is divided and 
subdivided, so as to run down the sides of several streets, 
in this part of the city, constantly, to the no small com- 
fort and convenience of the inhabitants. We continued 
our stroll up the banks of the Rhine several miles. The 
afternoon was sunny and delightful, and the air exceed- 
ingly pure. On either hand were fenceless vineyards, 
with abundance of grapes ; both sides of the river, in fact, 
resembled a continuous garden, and all nature seemed to 
rejoice under the smiles of a benevolent God. My friend 
and myself were happy in his love, and rejoiced in pros- 
pect of seeing that better land, where — 

"Everlasting spring abides, 
And never withering flowers." 

We returned to our hotel about dark. And now I must 
close this very long letter ; and if it weary you as it has 
me, I sympathize with you. Love to * * *. As ever, 
in Jesus Christ, J. C. 



340 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 



LETTER XL 

Zurich, Switzerland, Oct., 1843. 
Dear Sir : 

Yesterday morning we left B^le, by diligence, for this 
city, where we arrived about nine o'clock at night. Hav- 
ing secured seats outside with the conducteur and his com- 
jpagnon^ the man of the whip, we had a fine view of the 
country. The day was bright and beautiful, and the 
country to the right and left resembled a great park ; not 
a fence did we see for twenty miles together, and the 
meadows and uplands were tufted with trees ; many of 
them loaded with ripe fruit. No cattle were to be seen 
grazing upon the excellent pasturage. This is seldom 
commenced in these parts till the farmers have gathered 
in their crops. They supply their stock, we were informed, 
by the scythe, which may perhaps account for the evenness 
of the soil and verdure. 

We passed through numerous towns and villages, inha- 
bited chiefly by Roman Catholics, if we might judge by 
the many crosses elevated along the highway, with an efligy 
of our Saviour and other badges of Popery attached. 

However charming the scenery which environed these 
towns and villages, in proportion to the number of these 
emblems of Popery, we found, upon entering within their 
precincts, wretched houses, filthy streets, and a ragged 
and poverty-stricken population ; and I do not remember 
a single exception to the rule. It is worthy of remark, 
that in all places visited in my travels, wherever Romanism 
has been the prevailing religion, I have observed filth, and 
moral and physical degradation everywhere predominant. 
The thing is undeniable, nor can it escape the most inat- 
tentive traveller ; even Papists themselves have been com- 
pelled into the ackno^vledgment. The cross, with its 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 341 

fixtures, or a statue of the Virgin (if we except, perhaps, 
some of the very large cities of Europe, where there are 
other causes, which I cannot take time to enumerate, but 
which go far to neutralize the tendency of the system), are 
the never-failing preludes to all I have mentioned ; but 
the contrary is exhibited wherever Protestantism prevails. 
Let any unprejudiced person visit any town where Papists 
and Protestants occupy something like distinct localities, 
and the contrast will be most convincing. I speak now of 
the lower classes of both denominations. But why is this ? 
Why should two systems, both claiming Christianity for 
their aim, produce effects so widely different ? Why should 
one system of teaching prove so unfavourable to cleanliness, 
comfort, industry, economy, and general prosperity, — to 
say nothing of morality, among the labouring classes ; 
while that of the other, its enemies themselves being judges, 
tends directly to the very opposite ? Since penning the 
above, I have been struck with the observations of a late 
intelligent traveller upon the same subject. Speaking of 
a town he had visited on the banks of the Rhine [St. Gear], 
he says : '' That the part of the town we saw was inhabited 
by Catholics, we could have little doubt, from their evi- 
dent state of filth and degradation ; but a Protestant 
church, of considerable size, was pointed out to us ; and a 
ragged fellow, who had literally but half a pair of breeches, 
and a torn shirt, seeing us attempt to enter it, called out, 
« Protestant, no good, — no go there.' Without being in- 
fluenced by any illiberal feelings towards the Catholics as 
a body, it is impossible to shut one's eyes against the per- 
nicious effects which this religion evidently has among its 
votaries of the lower classes. It is well known to all who 
have visited those parts of Europe, where there is a mixed 
population of Protestants and Catholics, that the followers 
of each among the common people, who have to labour for 
their subsistence, are not difiicult to be pointed out by the 
29* 



342 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

appearance of their dress and their dwellings. The fact 
is unquestionably so ; and the conclusion is, that there 
must be something, connected with their religious duties, 
or with the influence which the priesthood is known to ex- 
ercise over their minds, or both, to produce effects so 
unfavourable to industrious habits, cleanliness, and com- 
fort." 

The road became hilly as we approached Zurich ; and 
in one place inclined somewhat to the mountainous. The 
ascent cost us a long walk for the relief of the horses, but 
we were well recompensed by the view from the sunmiit. 
A landscape of undulating hills, extending far and wide, 
was terminated by the lofty and brilliant glaciers of the 
Alps ; beneath, lay a deep and richly cultivated vale, 
enlivened by a busy river, and several villages. 

At the end of each stage, we had not only fresh horses, 
but a new driver, who never omitted, by a peculiar crack- 
ing of the whip, to convince those who had ears to hear, 
that he understood his business to perfection. These 
Swiss "cocherSj'' are the most expert whipmen I have 
seen. During the whole journey from Bale to Zurich, we 
had an almost perpetual roar of whip artillery ; each crack 
resembled the report of a pistol, and on entering a town, 
we had a succession of batteries which were really astound- 
ing. At first we pitied the poor horses, but we learned it 
was a part of Swiss whipmanship, to frighten the animals 
by the startling crack, without even touching a hair of 
their hide. A clever result of science this, and a benevo- 
lence which the majority of your American drivers have 
yet to learn. 

We were escorted the entire journey by a large dog, of 
the greyhound breed ; and, certainly, he seemed to con- 
sider himself quite as important a personage as our eon- 
ducteur. Arriving at the foot of a hill, where it was 
necessary the passengers should alight, he stood bv the 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 343 

door of the diligence, as if demanding the expected act of 
charity for the horses ; and planting his feet upon the 
steps, he looked narrowly into the vehicle, seemingly to 
satisfy himself whether all had dismount-ed. Finding all 
right, he resumed his station ahead, and when he had time 
from other duties, he paid his respects to cats and chick- 
ens, in no very complimentary manner. Many a poor 
grimalkin had to fly in desperation, and nothing but a 
rapid asc^ent up the nearest tree, saved her from death, or 
broken bones. Water was always a luxury, and he never 
let the opportunity slip of cooling his feet in the stream ; 
sometimes, when greatly in need of refreshment, he treated 
himself to a bath in the watering-trough, at the tavern, 
and then proceeded at his usual rate. " It is not easy," 
said a gentleman to me, after admiring the motions of this 
dog, " it is not easy, at all times, to draw the line be- 
tween instinct and reason ; the higher marks of instinct 
often go so far beyond the lower marks of reason, that it 
is frequently difficult to determine the distinction.'' 

To-day, in our walks through the city, we met the same 
dog in one of the squares, not weary, apparently, with 
his journey, but just taking a stroll, and with the easy 
carelessness of one that had come from no arduous duty, 
but like one enjoying a holiday. This morning we left 
our rooms in full expectation ot having our eyes feasted 
with the sublime and beautiful scenery for which Zurich 
is famed; after which we intended to return to Bale ; but 
to our disappointment a dense fog rested upon the entire 
scene. The indication of anything like its speedy re- 
moval was most unfavourable ; and, at the best, we could 
but expect a hazy day. Our arrangements would not 
permit us to tarry till the next day, so the end of our 
journey was likely to be defeated. 

St. Austin says : '^ He that carrieth his own temple 
about him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth." <' How 



344 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

quickly," says another, "thought can fly,- — many thou- 
sands of miles in a minute ; prayer can travel as rapidly 
as thought toward Heaven." An old divine compares 
prayer to the ring* which Queen ^l^llizabeth gave the Earl 
of Essex, bidding him, if he were in any distresses, to 
send that ring to her, and she would help him ; and God 
hath given us a ring, Ps. 50: 15. "The Bible," said a 
good man, some years ago, " is God's letter, wherein he 
opens his mind to man ; and prayer is man's letter, where- 
in he opens his mind to God." An excellent remark; 
and had it not been for that part of my Lord's letter to 
me, " Be careful for nothing ; but in everything^ by prayer 
and supplication, let your request be made known unto 
God," Phil. 4: 6, it is likely I should not have ventured 
with sufficient faith to have put in my plea for the removal 
of the fog. The Christian may say of his faith, as Archi- 
medes of the engine he had constructed : " Could I find 
where to fasten it, I would not doubt but to remove the 
whole earth by it." Surely, I thought, if faith can re- 
move a mountain, according to the declaration of Christ, 
can it not have an influence upon this mist ? But I must 
have a place whereon to plant my faith. I have found it. 
" Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, 
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall 
have them." Mark 11 : 24. 

After spending a short time in private prayer, we 
ascended to the promenade on the top of the hotel. The 
fog was so thick we could only see a few yards before us. 
Our conversation turned upon that beautiful passage, 
" The Lord God is a sun and shield ; he will give grace 
and glory ; and no good thing will he withhold from them 

* A friend has suggested, that the story of this ring has been disputed 
by intelligent historians; the thought itself, however, is sancti6ed by 
the writer in qat-rlioD, and so improved. J. C. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 345 

that walk uprightly," Ps. 84: 11, which led to some phi- 
losophical reflections upon the natural sun ; his influence 
upon the various objects of nature, not forgetting '^ fogs, 
clouds, and vapours." The luminary of day occupies, 
doubtless, his proper position in the heavens ; and could 
he only shower down his rays upon this damp mist, unem- 
barrassed by dense clouds in the higher regions of the 
atmosphere, the annoyance would soon be removed, and 
the mist absorbed, and the magnificent scenery underneath 
would be revealed to our admiring vision. It is thus with 
the tempted believer, when the Sun of Righteousness 
arises upon his soul, with healing on his wings ; then it is 
that all the clouds which obscured his spiritual vision dis- 
appear, and the heavenly land is unfolded to the eye of 
realizing faith, in all the grandeur that such a divine me- 
dium can aflbrd. 

From this, the conversation led to the nature and power 
of prayer: ''No good thing will he withhold from them 
that walk uprightly." '' God has not promised," said 
Mr. H., " to give us everything ; only those things which 
are good; and what are really good, we must leave him to 
decide, who knows better than we do." A poet, I replied, 
has laid down our duty very scripturally in the following 
verse : — 

** StUl raise to God the supplicating voice, 
And leave to Heaven the measure and the choice ; 
Implore his aid, in his decisions rest, 
Secure whate'er he gives, — he gives the best." 

" Another poet," rejoined Mr. H., "has well expressed 
our sentiments : — 

* With patient mind, thy course of duty run ; 
God nothing does, nor suffers to be done. 
But thou wouldst do thyself, if thou couldst see 
The end of all events, as well as He." 



846 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Just then I happened to look over my left shoulder, 
and saw a bright spot, the sun's rays acting on the fog ; 
it seemed like a place worn into a thin transparent veil ; 
but toward the earth it was as dense as ever. We had not 
an opportunity of judging how close an alliance obscurity 
has to grandeur ; as is sometimes the case, when surround- 
ing objects, and those especially in the distance, assume 
an unreal magnitude, as seen through the medium of a 
thin, misty veil. The fog had indeed become white as the 
driven snow, and exquisitely soft and delicate ; but so 
dense, and so impervious was it to the powers of vision, 
that curiosity, however intense, could obtain no satis- 
faction. 

The sun's rays at length burst through the thin part 
already referred to, and the vapours bestirred themselves. 
In about ten minutes, they began to move off, and objects, 
of whose existence we had no knowledge a moment or two 
before, were unfolded to our view. But it was not the 
gradual defining of outlines, and the variety of parts, that 
v/e sometimes observe in American mists. Here the retir- 
ing fog rolled itself up like a shrivelled parchment, leaving 
the landscape glowing with light, and with a freshness of 
colouring, calculated to remind one how lively creation was 
in its youthful prime. 

The scene became enchantingly beautiful ; and the pro- 
gressive unfolding of the whole afforded us no small 
amusement. Exclamation succeeded to exclamation, as 
the city, with its streets and temples, gardens, waters, 
verdant slopes, and mountain sides, part after part, was 
given to our view ; the fog in the mean time furling itself 
upward, till it had spread like table cloths along the ribs 
of the mountains. There was scarcely a breath stirring, 
and yet the vapours, as if afraid of the rays of the sun, 
hurried acway. Pieces of the mountains, in some places, 
as if hanging in mid-au*, peeped through the white mists 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 347 

which surrounded them, and looked like parts of another 
landscape in the heavens. At length the last shred of the 
veil disappeared from the highest Alpine peak, and a scene 
was spread before us, so fascinating, and so richly diversi- 
fied with beauty, as rarely falls to the lot of the pictur- 
esque traveller to behold ; an assemblage, in fact, of all 
those fine objects of nature, allowed to be the best adapted 
to delight the eye and excite the imagination ; and which 
were highly calculated to impress the mind with a series 
of images, to which one may afterward recur with plea- 
surable sensations. 

Twelve o'clock had just passed away, and our souls re- 
joiced in a prayer-answering God. 

''An elegant poet," says a writer, "lays it down as an 
unquestionable maxim, — 

< The Universal Cause 
Acts not by partial, but by general laws,' — 

plainly meaning, that he never deviates from those general 
laws, in favour of any particular person ; and it is upon 
this supposition, the same poet adds these beautiful lines in 
full triumph, as having now clearly gained the point : — 

Shall burning Etna, if a sage requires, 

Forget to thunder and recall her fires? 

On air or sea new motions be imprest, 

blameless Bethel ! to relieve thy breast ! 

When the loose mountain trembles from on high, 

Shall gravitation cease, if you go by ? 

Or some old temple, nodding to its fall, 

For Chartres' head reserve the hanging wall ?' " 

So then, according to this poet, God is not at liberty, 
when he pleases, ''To deviate from those general laws,'* 
even to save the life of one of his servants ; a doctrine 
this, in manifest contradiction to the plain word of God. 
To assert that God acts, not by partial but general laws, 



i>4b CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

is to admit a general providence, but deny a particular ; 
which, Mr. Wesley has somewhere termed, '' Stark-staring 
nonsense, which every man of sense should be utterly 
ashamed of. And what is a general^ of whatever kind it 
be, that includes no particulars? Is not every general 
necessarily made up of its several particulars ? Can you 
instance any general that is not ? What, I pray, is a 
whole that contains no parts ? Mere nonsense and con- 
tradiction !" 

Perhaps Pope would have condescended to allow a power 
to the ^^ prayer of faith," in the removal of ''misty 
vapours," although too feeble to arrest the tendencies of 
those stupendous objects in nature upon which he has ex- 
patiated so eloquently. But poets are not always the best 
theologians. I question whether the poet referred to, ever 
read that remarkable declaration of Jesus Christ : " Have 
faith in God. For verily I say unto you. That whosoever 
shall say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and be 
thou cast into the sea ; and shall not doubt in his heart, 
but shall believe that those things which he saith shall 
come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark 
11: 22, 23. 

I wish, my dear Sir, I could convey to you an idea of 
the magnificent scene which spread itself around us. Sup- 
pose yourself standing upon the platform of a roof, four 
stories high, in the midst of a fine city, but not so large 
as to confuse your vision with too much variety, nor to 
cause the outlines of architectural gems to be lost in ''the 
indistinct confusion of brick and mortar ;" but of suflScient 
magnitude to impress your mind with an idea of the wealth 
and prosperity of a busy population. 

Yonder is the cathedral, with its two spires, pointing 
*'like silent fingers into heaven," — the building in which 
the Reformation began its triumphant march in Switzer- 
land, under Zwingle. There, he thundered against Popery, 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 349 

and defied the Pope. Within those venerable walls, that 
bold Reformer denounced the mass ; and one Sabbath day 
(1525), he hurled out of it, the images and mummeries of 
Popery, and administered to the faithful, in the Protestant 
form, the sacrament of the Lord*s Supper, in the presence 
of a deeply affected and crowded congregation. His pulpit 
is there yet ; and beneath it repose his honourable remains. 
He fell in the battle-field of Cappel, in the year 1531, 
when the Papists and Protestants were ei^aged in deadly 
fight. He was there to administer the consolations of 
religion to the wounded and the dying. 

That spire with the clock, is the church of which the 
celebrated Lavater was for many years the pastor. He 
was shot at his own door, when Zurich was stormed by the 
troops of Massena, in the autumn of 1799. Ministers 
should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for that of 
the land in which they live, as, not unfrequently, such . 
have been heavy sufferers in civil wars, and also, amidst 
the tumult and vengeance of an invading army. Lavater, 
by his works on Physiognomy, has acquired a name which 
stands high throughout literary Europe and America. 

'' High mountains,'* says a poet, " are a feeling." How 
ampitheatre-like they arise round Zurich ! — an arrange- 
ment, to which, it would seem, the supreme Creator was 
much disposed, when moulding our beautiful planet. Their 
sides are covered with gardens and vineyards, gemmed 
with pretty houses, white as show. Although the summits 
are generally unblessed with verdure, and left bald by the 
storms of many centuries, it is right to say that they enter- 
tain the eye with a variety of forms pleasingly combined. 

To the east lies the lake of Zurich, clear as crystal ; a 
mirror for the guardian mountains, and for the lights of 
heaven. In the rear of the lake, is a chain of the Alps, 
piled like a mighty wall into the sky, and covered with 
snow and ice. After dinner, a party of us hired a small 
30 



850 CONTINENTAL LETTERS, 

boat, and enjoyed a sail on the lake. The afternoon was 
one of the loveliest decreed to our world ; not a speck of 
cloud marred the blue firmament, nor a breath of wind 
stirred, and the temperature was equal to summei^. The 
lake was as smooth as glass ; and at the entrance, blue to 
a depth of tint, which was quite new to me, and so per- 
fectly lucid that the smallest objects could be distinguished 
fathoms beneath. 

As we advanced upon its bosom, the Alps opened out 
*more fully to view, and became, if possible, more grand. 
The indentations of " icy halls," and shades from projecting 
crags, were strikingly contrasted by the rays of the de- 
scending sun, glancing upon glaciers and "snowy scalps,'* 
and contributed to throw those mighty barriers of nature 
into bolder relief from the blue sky, and lower parts of the 
landscape. 

The banks of the lake, for several miles, are adorned 
with handsome houses, white as snow, enlivened with green 
window-blinds; besides a sprinkling of villages. From 
these, the hills and mountains — not the Alps alluded to, as 
they stand off by themselves, as if proudly disdaining re- 
lationship — rise hundreds of feet, and with a considerable 
dash of grandeur. Having been informed that a view of 
the setting sun, from Zurich, is allowed to be of a sublime 
character, we hastened ashore, and ascended one of the 
towers of Zwingle's church, in order to enjoy it. It was 
very fine. 

The cathedral is quite destitute of architectural beauties, 
but venerable for its age, having been built in the eleventh 
century ; and also on account of historical associations, 
connected with the Reformation already alluded to. 

We stood in Zwingle's pulpit. A plain slab covers his 
dust beneath ; but so many persons have made pilgrimage.^ 
to it, during the last two centuries, that the centre of t a ^, 
stone is worn away considerably from the level, by the 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 861 

friendly footsteps of visitors like ourselves, who, I suppose, 
desired to have to say, on returning to their country, "We 
stood upon the tomb of Zwingle/' Of course, an attempt 
to decipher the inscription was vain ; so the lines of the 
poet apply to the tombs of the great and learned, as well 
as to those of the rustic dead : — 

" The flat smooth stone that bears a name, 
The chisel's slender help to fame ; 
Which, ere our set of friends decay, 
Their frequent steps may wear away." 

But Zwingle's epitaph is inscribed upon the more en- 
during pages of ^' The Reformation;" and Protestantism 
must sink into oblivion ere the millions of his friends shall 
have ceased to revere his memory. The eternal destiny 
of myriads of our race was involved in the part which, in 
common with other Reformers, Zwingle took in that tre- 
mendous conflict. 

After tea, we ascended a pretty eminence on the banks 
of the lake, close to the city. It has the appearance of 
an artificial mound, and is laid out handsomely in walks, 
furnished with seats, and shaded by large and luxuriant 
trees. The view from this spot was exceedingly beautiful. 
As day was gradually departing, twilight began to spread 
a delicious charm over surrounding objects. Dark shadows 
invested the mountain tops, and a gradual indistinctness 
pervaded all things, except the glassy surface of the lake, 
which brightened as the night advanced ; and the snowy 
Alps, still more majestic in the evening shades, the peaks 
of which seemed as if biddino^ defiance to invadino^ dark- 
ness. One peak, especially, stood out in bold relief; its 
rosy hues proclaiming that the sun and itself had not 
ceased to hold communion together. This we considered 
as a fine illustration of the enjoyments of a holy believeVj 
when contrasted, generally, with the state of those who 
do not enjoy the blessing of entire sanctification. Had we 



352 CO:^TINENTAL LETTERS. 

observed the same peak in the morning, we should doubt- 
less have found it was the first illuminated by the rising 
sun. 

How favourable such an hour for prayer and holy con- 
templation ! How many tender recollections steal over the 
soul, noiseless as the falling dew; and the heart assimi- 
lates itself with that soft repose which has spread over the 
face of nature ! 

**I love thee, twilight — as thy shadows roll, 
The ealm of evening steals upon the soul ; 
Sublimely tender — solemnly serene, — 
Still as the hour — enchanting as the scene — 
Twilight ! I love thee — let thy gloom increase, 
Till every feeling, every pulse is peace." 

I have often had occasion to remark, in the course of 
my troubles, how well the mind is prepared to enjoy the 
beauties of nature, when assured of the favour of Heaven. 

<* The mind that feels no smart, 
Enlivens all its sees." 

Scenery the most enchanting can impart but little plea- 
sure to a mind smarting under a sense of the disapproba- 
tion of God. A consciousness of insecurity with regard 
to the threatening aspect of eternity, is a very bad travel- 
ling companion. When all is right respecting another 
world, we are equally prepared to take pleasure in the 
picturesque and beautiful, as to sustain the ills peculiar to 
this changeable and transitory world, and still be happy. 

Lord Byron, when making the tour of Switzerland, 
kept a journal for the amusement of his sister. I met the 
other day with a mournful passage, extracted, it was said, 
from that document. «' In the weather, for this tour of 
thirteen days, I have been very fortunate, — fortunate in 
a companion (Mr. Hobhouse), — fortunate in our pros- 
pects, and exempt from even the little petty accidents and 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 353 

delays which often render journeys, in a less wild country, 
disappointing. I was disposed to be pleased. I am a 
lover of nature, and an admirer of beauty. I can bear 
fatigue, and welcome privation, and have seen some of the 
noblest views in the world. But in all this the recollec- 
tion of bitterness, and more especially of recent and more 
home desolation, which must accompany me through life, 
has preyed upon me here ; and neither the music of the 
shepherd, the crashing of the avalanche, nor the torrent, 
the mountain, the glacier, the forest, nor the cloud, have 
for one moment lightened the weight upon my heart, nor 
enabled me to lose my own wretched identity, in the ma- 
jesty, and the power, and the glory around, above, and 
beneath me.*' The lake of Zurich is about thirty miles 
long, and its greatest breadth only five miles. The river 
Limmat, which divides the city into two parts, discharges 
itself into the lake at Zurich. As I have occupied so 
much of this letter in the description of scenery, there is 
little left for that of the public buildings. 

The Maison des Orphelins looks well ; its back and 
front are similar in form, graced with six Ionic pilasters, 
and a pediment. The Meiser is a neat edifice, three sto- 
ries high, fronted by six Ionic columns. The Maison de 
ville is the same in height, and displays more elegance and 
taste than we generally observe in buildings of a mixed 
architecture. The Greek and the Gothic are ingeniously 
blended in this building. Each of the windows in front 
is surmounted alternately by a semicircular and triangular 
pediment. The pediments above the windows of the first 
story are occupied by the statues of eminent men, princi- 
pally Swiss. The front is enlivened by Tuscan, Ionic, 
and Corinthian pilasters, each in their appropriate stories. 

As to the features, complexion, dress, and behaviour of 
the inhabitants, I saw little different from what you have 
had so minutely described in the various books of travels 
30* 



354 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

now in circulation in America. The population of the city 
is chiefly of the Calvinistic persuasion. We leave for 
B&le to-morrow; thence to Strasburg, and so down the 
Rhine, and across Prussia into Belgium. As ever, in 
Jesus, J. C. 



LETTER XII. 

Mayence, Germany, Oct., 1843. 
My very dear Sir : 

We had a pleasant ride back to Bale, and thence to 
Strasburg, where we spent last Sabbath. It rained most 
of the day, and my mind partook of the general gloom ; 
and had many buffetings from the great adversary.- 

About half-past four in the afternoon, it cleared up, and 
I wandered out beyond the fortifications, into some plea- 
sant walks " fit for meditation sweet.'' But, ah ! we need 
not visit pagan lands to realize those mournful lines of 
Bishop Heber : — 

*' What though the spicy breezes 

Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle ; 
Though every prospect pleases, 

And only man is vile. 
In vain, with lavish kindness, 

The gifts of God are strewn, 
The heathen, in his blindness, 

Bows down to wood and stone." 

I arrived at a cluster of houses, devoted to what the 
French Qd^W. pleasure ; some have named them '' The helh 
of France.'' Clusters of men were sitting outside, drink- 
ing, smoking, and gaming ; while the interiors were crowded 
by men and women, some drinking, and others dancing to 
the sound of a variety of instruments. These houses are 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 355 

fitted up, if one might judge by the exterior, — for I did 
not enter any of them, — in such a manner as to make vice 
fascinating, and the way to hell pleasant and respectable. 
Could I have spoken in French, with the readiness I can 
read that language, these Sabbath-breakers should have 
heard the truth, for once in their lives, whatever might 
have been the result ; but I was glad to take refuge in a 
cemetery close by. The evening was calm, and the air 
refreshingly sweet. The sentiment of Tholuck, the Ger- 
man poet, would recur to any one who had read it, on 
entering the precincts of this deep and delicious soli- 
tude : — > 
" How still is the grave, 

How cool is the air about it! 
If the body sleeps so gently, 

How blessed mast be the spirit !'* 

What a contrast, I murmured, between the silence that 
rests upon the sleeping dead, and the shouts and uproar of 
the sons and daughters of folly over yonder 1 

The cemetery is of considerable extent, and tastefully 
planted with luxuriant trees and shrubbery ; and " funeral 
foliage'* shades the monuments of the dead. 

** Methinks the monster Death 
Wears not such visage here, so grim and gaunt 
With terror, as he shows in other lands : 
Kobing himself in sentiment, he warps 
His dreary trophies in a maze of flowers !'* 

An hour was spent very agreeably among the tombs, 
reading inscriptions, and forming a hasty estimate as to 
the proportion (which is very large) of the citizens who had 
been consigned to the grave in " early youth/' I counted 
nearly thirty broken columns, indicating that those to whose 
memory they were erected, had been cut down in the prime 
of life ; that their hopes and purposes were suddenly 
broken off by death, as the column is shattered by the 



356 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

lightning-stroke, or overturned and severed by the throes 
of an earthquake. 

Ah ! if one could say of such, " The less of this cold 
world, the more of heaven !" it would be a relief; but how 
could such a hope exist, when the voice of music and revelry 
again fell upon my ear, and called forth the reflection, 
'' Perhaps most of these unconscious ones joined in the 
same excess of riot, on the Lord's day." Again the noise 
of music and dancing intruded upon the solitude of the 
dead, and I prepared to flee from the sound, as from a hell, 
exclaiming, '' No wonder, if the red lightnings were to shoot 
forth in sudden vengeance against these French sinners, as a 
retribution for the desecration of the holy Sabbath.'' On 
my return to the entrance, I noticed here and there a soli- 
tary mourner, leaning over a grave, disconsolate. This 
was a pleasing contrast to the thoughtlessness without ; 
but on arriving at a huge cross, upon which was suspended 
a gigantic effigy of our Saviour, and beholding a number 
of people kneeling around it, and adoring their wooden 
god, I retreated in sorrow from the place. Idolatry, Sab- 
bath-breaking, and Popery, are synonymous. 

The Lord blessed me abundantly on returning to the city. 
My soul was so caught up into communion with God, that 
instead of passing through one of the gates, I turned to 
the right, and by the side of some fortifications, I received 
another and larger manifestation of the love of God. My 
heart was filled to overflowing, as " the Lord passed by," 
and recalled to my view a train of mercies, which grateful 
memory recognised as having been all mine, through a long 
succession of years. I wondered, admired, and adored ! 

After tea, Mr. Holgate and I spent a short time in social 
prayer, and retired to rest. 

Next morning we left Strasburg, by steamer, for this 
city ; the day turned out rainy, but it cleared off in the 
afternoon. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 357 

A few miles below Manheim, we obtained a view of the 
ancient city of Worms, to the right. The old cathedral, 
with its imposing towers, is a fine object from the river. 

Worms was frequently the residence of Charlemagne ; 
and during the middle ages the diet of the Germanic body 
was often held within its walls. Two hundred states were 
comprised in that memorable constitution ; and for nearly 
one thousand years it withstood many shocks of aggres- 
sion, and wielded a tremendous influence over the other 
nations of Europe ; but fell to pieces, and was annihilated 
by the concussions which accompanied the French Revo- 
lution. 

But Worms has been immortalized by the famous diet 
which was held there in the months of February, March, 
and April, of 1521 ; the first assembly of that kind which 
occurred after the election of Charles V. to the imperial 
dignity. Popery had then arrived at the climax of its 
vices, and of its tyranny ; and already had the Almighty 
set the machinery in motion, destined to humble the " man 
of sin,'* and break his yoke from ofi" the necks of millions. 

It is not, my dear Sir, necessary that I should enter 
into a detail of particulars connected with the Reforma- 
tion, with which, the fine works that grace your library 
have long since made you familiar. But when gazing at 
Worms, we could not avoid some stirring reminiscences 
relative to the doings of that celebrated diet. It is perhaps 
questionable, whether its equal had ever been held in Ger- 
many, or in any other part of the world, — if we except 
that bloody Sanhedrim, to which Judas gave his promise 
to betray his Lord and Master. All Europe was agitated. 
The writings of Martin Luther, aided by the invention of 
printing, had " set the kingdoms in a blaze." By a bull 
of Leo X., they had all been condemned to the flames the 
year previous ; and the author, whenever found, was to be 
put to death. 



358 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

About this time Luther, when writing to a friend, says : 
<' For me the die is east, — jacta est alea, — the papal wrath 
and papal favour are alike despised by me ; I will never 
be reconciled to them, nor communicate with them more. 
Let them burn my writings, I, unless I am unable to get 
a little fire, will condemn and publicly burn the whole 
pontifical code. As they have excommunicated me in 
defence of their sacrilegious heresy, so do I excommuni- 
cate them on behalf of the holy truth of God ; and let 
Christ, our judge, decide whether of the two excommuni- 
cators has the greater weight with him,'' Luther, ere the 
end of the same year, returned the Pope's compliment, and 
made a bonfire of the bull, and of other Papist books, out- 
side the walls of the city of Wirtemburg, in the presence 
of the University, and vast multitudes of the citizens. 
Hence, Charles V. found it absolutely necessary, for the 
peace and safety of his empire, to convene the diet re- 
ferred to, and to cite the author of all this disturbance to 
appear and answer for his conduct. There were present, 
at this diet, not less than sixty-six persons, of the dignity 
of sovereign princes, and their sons and brothers ; one 
hundred counts, sixty deputies of free imperial cities, and 
numerous barons, knights, doctors of divinity, doctors of 
law, and one representative from America, — the first ever 
seen in Europe. Before this large assembly, with Charles 
V. at its head, Luther was cited to appear within twenty- 
one days. 

^' When I arrived at Erfurt," says Luther, ^^ a message 
was brought me, that I was already condemned at Worms. 
The same report was publicly declared in all the towns, 
so that the herald himself (Caspar Sturm, the imperial 
officer, who had served the citation) asked me whether I 
still thought of going to Worms. Though I feared and 
trembled, yet I answered him, and said, ''Thither will I 
go, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, if even as many 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 859 

devils were in the place as tiles upon the roofs!" Some 
years afterwards, Luther said to a friend, referring to his 
feelings in that critical hour, << I was free from terror ; I 
feared nothing. So bold can God make one. I know not 
whether I should now have so much bravery.'' 

I met the other day with a prayer, composed by Luther, 
preparatory to his appearance at Worms ; probably when 
in that city. I have been informed it is inserted in the 
works of Luther, though I do not remember to have seen 
it before. It was, therefore, new to me, and may be 
interesting to you. 

'' Almighty and eternal God, how is all the world sub- 
dued ! How do they shut men's mouths ! How small 
and poor is their confidence in God ! How tender and 
weak is the flesh, and the devil so powerful and active by 
his emissaries and the wise men of the world ! How soon 
do men draw back their hand, and whirl away, and run 
the common road and the wide way to hell, the proper 
place of the ungodly! And how do they gaze only at 
Avhat is magnificent and mighty, great and powerful ! 
When I turn my eyes thitherwards, the bell," to toll my 
death, " is already cast, and the sentence is pronounced. 

God, God, my God, my God, stand thou by me, 
against the reason and wisdom of all the world ! Do thou 
it ; thou must do it ; thou alone. It is not my cause, but 
thine. On my own account, I have nothing to do in this 
place, and with these great lords of the world. 0, might 

1 but spend my days in quietness, far from this worry and 
confusion! But thine, Lord, is the cause, which is 
righteous and eternal! Stand thou by me; thou, the 
faithful and everlasting God ! In no man do I put my 
trust. It" (human aid) ''is worthless, and in vain ; all is 
lame and limping that is fleshly and savours of the flesh. 
God, God ! hearest thou not, my God ? Art thou 
dead ? No ; thou canst not die, thou only hidest thyself. 



360 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Hast thou chosen me for this work ? I ask thee, for cer- 
tainly do I know it. Yea, it is God that rules the whole ; 
for I, all my life long, should never have had a thought 
of opposing such great lords, had it not been appointed 
for me. Yea, God, thus stand by me, in the name of 
thine own son, Jesus Christ, who is my shelter and 
defence, yea, my strong tower, through the power and 
strengthening of thy Holy Spirit. Lord, where tarriest 
thou? Thou, my God, where art thou? Come; come; 
I am ready for this cause to yield my life, patient as a 
little lamb. For the cause is righteous, and it is thine : 
and never to eternity will I be separated from thee. Be 
this concluded in thy name. The world shall never force 
me against my conscience ; even if it were still fuller of 
devils, and if this body of mine, which is but the creature 
of thy hands, should, for thy cause, be crushed to the 
ground, yea, shivered to atoms. Therefore, thy word and 
thy Spirit are good to me. And all this trouble and 
danger is only about the frail body; my soul is thine, to 
thee it belongs, and with thee it shall dwell for ever. 
Amen. God help me ! Amen.'' 

All the city was moved as Luther approached. Every 
eye was fixed upon the man who had set the Pope at 
defiance. Multitudes of exasperated Papists were ready 
to gnash upon him with their teeth, and would have torn 
him to pieces, but for the strong guard decreed him by the 
Emperor. Some persons told him plainly, he would be 
burned to ashes, as Huss was at Constance ; to whom 
Luther replied : " If they should make a fire to reach from 
Wirtemburg to Worms, and its flame mount up to heaven, 
I would here appear in the name of the Lord, and go into 
the mouth of Behemoth betwixt his mighty teeth, and 
there confess Christ, leaving to him all consequences." 

Through much diflSculty, he arrived at the palace, where 
he was accosted by an old warrior, the knight Freunds- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 361 

berg: ^'Monk, thou art venturing upon a course more 
dangerous than I have ever known in the hottest field of 
battle ; but God, who has preserved me in many a hard 
fight, will, by his grace, be thy protection." 

It was on the 16th of April Luther entered Worms ; 
and the next day, he was arraigned before the Emperor 
and his august assembly ; where it was demanded, first, 
whether he acknowledged certain books, the catalogue of 
which was read, to be his. Secondly, whether he would 
defend them. Luther desired time to consider, and one 
day was granted him. As he returned to the castle, under 
an escort, some of his friends, the noblemen, said to him : 
" Be bold and play the man ; fear not those who can kill 
the body, and after that have no more which they can do." 

"Some of the German clergy," says a writer, "even 
high dignitaries, were inclined to moderate measures. But 
Alexander, the Pope's legate, violently declared that in- 
quiry and examination had no place in the matter ; that 
all were bound by the Pope's judgment, and it was their 
only duty to carry it into effect ; and that the heresies of 
Luther were enough to deserve the burning of a hundred 
thousand men." Providence or policy, however, dictated 
a different course to the Emperor and his cabinet, and 
Luther was allowed the privilege to answer for himself. 

Accordingly, the next day, Luther appeared before the 
assembly ; and the following was his reply in substance : 
1. That all those books, the catalogue of which had been 
read the day previous, were his, both written and pub- 
lished. . 2. He desired that it might be observed, they 
were of three kinds ; some of them treating simply and 
plainly concerning faith and good works ; so that his ad- 
versaries themselves admitted they were harmless, nay 
useful, to all Christians ; that he could not retract these 
without manifest impiety ; that others were written against 
the Papists, as having, both by their doctrines and lives, 
31 



362 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

laid waste the Christian church ; if, therefore, he should 
retract these, it would tend to strengthen their tyranny, 
and to open a wide door for more corruptions than ever ; 
that he had written a third kind of books, against private 
men, who defended the tyranny and doctrines of the pope : 
'^And in these," he continued, ^^ I confess, I have used 
more sharpness than became my religion, or profession. 
And yet, neither can I retract these, because, were I to 
do this, that tyranny and impiety would reign, and rage 
more against the people of God than ever it did before." 

To what had been objected, concerning the dissensions 
and disturbances, which his doctrines had originated, and 
which they continued to foster, he replied : '' I suppose it 
is plain, from what I have already observed, that I have 
sufficiently weighed the parties and dissensions, which my 
doctrines have occasioned in the world ; of which I was 
yesterday admonished. Truly, it is a most comfortable 
thing to me, to see parties and dissensions occasioned by 
the word of God. That is, and must be, the consequence 
of it. For our Lord says, ' I am come, not to send peace, 
but a sword ;' and we are to consider, that our God is won- 
derful and terrible in his counsels, lest, peradventure, what 
he is now doing upon the earth, if we set out with con- 
demning the word of God, should turn to an intolerable 
flood of evils." 

After this, '' The orator of the empire" requiring him 
to give a plain and direct answer, he said, " Since, then, 
your Imperial Majesty, and ye, most gracious Elector? 
gnd Princes, desire a plain, simple, straightforward an- 
swer, I will give one that has neither horns nor teeth, and 
this is it : Unless I am vanquished and convicted of error 
by testimonies out of the Holy Scripture, or by such 
grounds and reasons as shall publicly appear to be clear 
and plain ; (for, I believe neither the Pope nor councils 
alone, since it is as plain as daylight, that they have often 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 363 

erred, and have contradicted themselves ;) and thus am 
convinced with passages from the vrord of God, and my 
conscience thereby satisfied, nothing can I, nothing will I 
revoke, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything 
against a man's conscience;" and added, in German, 
" Hier stehe ; ich kan niclit andei^s. Grott helfe mir ! 
Amen.'' That is, ^< Here I make my stand; no other- 
wise can I. God help me ! Amen." * 

'^ After they had considered his answer," says the old 
author, John Daniel Hernnschmid, from whom I have 
abridged part of the above materials, '^ the orator of state 
again began urging him to recant. Luther besought them, 
that he might not be constrained to do anything contrary 
to his conscience ; that he had answered directly^ and had 
nothing more to say, than what he had said already ; that 
unless his adversaries would confute his errors, as they 
styled them, by arguments drawn from Scripture, he could 
not escape out of their toils." He then withdrew, midst 
the scoffs and jeers of multitudes. God protected his ser- 
vant. He got safely out of the lion's den. On his return 
from Worms, he was seized by a party of horsemen, and 
was carried to a strong castle, situated at a distance from 
the public roads ; (but this was by the order of a friend, 
the Elector of Saxony, as it was generally supposed;) 
where he had his wants abundantly supplied ; but the place 
of his concealment was kept a profound secret, both to 
friends and enemies. This, doubtless, was the plan, de- 
vised by a gracious Providence, to screen him from the 
vengeance of the Papists, till the violence of the storm had 
passed over. 



* *' This eloquence, indeed," says a late writer, *'is transient; it 
flashes out like the lightning, for an instant, and again withdraws into 
the cloud. But it is the lightning that blasts and scathes wherever it 
Btrikes." J. C, 



364 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

What a spectacle of moral grandeur did Luther present, 
when standing up for God and truth, before a host of foes, 
such as those, and at the peril of his life ! Need we won- 
der that Popery is still so bitterly opposed to the Holy 
Scriptures? But for Luther's knowledge of the Word of 
God, he would have been carried away as by a flood. Popery 
can no more abide the light of revelation, than darkness 
\ can tarry in the presence of the sun ! 

Undaunted as ever, the following year, the bold Reformer 
was heard to say : " My doctrines will stand, and the Pope 
will fall, in spite of all the powers of air, earth, and hell. 
They have provoked me to war ; they shall have it. They 
scorned the peace I ofi*ered them ; (referring, probably, to 
some waverings of mind he had in the beginning of his 
career, and submissions arising from the imperfection of 
his views ; but he afterwards said, deploring his first vacil- 
lations : ' I appeal from Luther in ignorance, to Luther 
well informed;') peace they shall have no longer. God 
shall look to it ; which of the two shall first retire from 
the struggle — the Pope or Luther?" Again, when writ- 
ing to a friend, he said, " I know and am certain, that Jesus 
Christ our Lord lives and reigns ; and, buoyant in this 
knowledge and confidence, I will not fear a hundred thou- 
sand Popes," 

Had the same aggressions against Popery been carried 
forward with a similar spirit, during the two centuries fol- 
lowing the death of Luther, I doubt whether that corrupt 
system would have had an existence in the nineteenth cen- 
tury, to be to Protestants, what the Canaanitish nations, 
left in the land by the supineness of the Israelites, became 
eventually to that people, — " Snares and traps, — scourges 
to their sides and thorns in their eyes ;" and well would it 
have been for the cause of true religion, and for perished 
millions, had the sword of divine truth been allowed to pene- 
trate Popery's Italian heart, as effectually as it did into 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 365 

its Germanic and British limbs and branches. Protestants 
alone have been to blame. 

Worms at length disappeared from our eyes ; and while 
our vessel was speeding her way down the river, I thought 
of the work God has given me to do ; and of the courage 
I shall require in future conflicts with the powers of earth 
and hell, repeating, as I paced the deck, those fine verses : — 

** Steel me to shame, reproach, disgrace, 
Arm me with all thine armour now ; 
Set like a flint my steady face. 
Harden to adamant my brow. 

Bold may I wax, exceeding bold, 

My high commission to perform, 
Nor shrink thy harshest truths to unfold ; 

But more than meet the gathering storm. 

Adverse to earth's rebellious throng, 

Still may I turn my fearless face ; 
Stand as an iron pillar strong, 

And steadfast as a wall of brass* 

Give me thy might, thou God of power, 

Then let or men, or fiends assail. 
Strong in thy strength I'll stand, a tower 

Impregnable to earth or hell." 



LETTER XIII. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, Prussia, Oct., 1843. 
Dear Sir, 
Our second visit to Mayence was but of short duration. 
We left that city by steamer for Cologne. The day, 
though showery, was pleasant ; and we had an opportunity 
of taking a '^ flying view" of the grandeur of the Rhine, 
for our steamer went down the mighty current, like a 
31* 



366 CONTINENTAL LETTEllS. 

swallo^v through the air ; I was going to say, like an arrow^ 
but there were too many sudden bondings and sharp angles, 
to consist with such a straightforward figure. 

Perhaps the following hasty lines may give you as cor- 
rect an idea of the scenery, as any I could adopt, unless I 
should light upon some good engravings. And they have 
this advantage, which I know you will estimate, however 
inharmonious they may appear, — they are original. My 
travelling companion says he is not a professed critic of 
poetry, but he suggests that the verses '' need the applica- 
tion of the pruning knife ;" and I think so too, but, it is 
to be feared, if the pruning work be but begun, they must 
go root and branch. However, they were the amusement 
of an hour or two, and served to impress the scenery more 
deeply upon my mind ; and, I hope, they will at least 
amuse you also, as well as Mrs. * * * *^ Doggerel needs 
a preface, you see, as well as fine poetry. You must know 
then, that the verses are a designed imitation of the river, 
rushing onward in a kind of disordered order ; or what one 
has somewhere termed, '' A triumphant harmony of glori- 
ous discords." Rhine-like,* they run across and through 
the territorial limits of different kinds of poetry, without 
asking leave or attempting an apology ; and narroAver, 
wider, deeper, or shallower, according to circumstances, 
bidding defiance often to poetic measure. There is unity, 
but it is Rhine-unity — taking the channel that suits them 
best, making mountains, hills, vales, and towns, and towers, 
yield to the one design ; — surging onward and downward, 
complimenting every thing within the reach of their current, 
but careless as to how many ungraceful bendings, indenta- 
tions, and rugged projections are left, to quarrel with the 
smoothness and harmony of poesy; but hastening away, 

* The Rhine runs through a variety of kingdoms, before it reache3 
the sea. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 867 

like the Rhine, to be engulfed in that great ocean, which 
has so recklessly and insatiably swallowed up the poetry 
of ages. 

And then had you seen the soi-disant poet, wrapped up 
in a cloak, ^'His eye in a fine frenzy rolling,'' tripping 
along the deck, now on this side, then on the other, with 
paper and pencil in hand, catching a little poetic fire from 
various points of sublimity, I am quite sure you would 
have been as much amused by his motions as with his pro- 
ductions. But you recollect the sentiment of Mackenzie : 
'' Poetry, let the prudence of the world say what it will, is, 
at least, one of the noblest amusements. Our philanthropy 
is almost always increased by it. There is a certain poetic 
ground on which we cannot tread without feelings that 
mend the heart ; and many who are not able to reach the 
Parnassian heights, may yet advance so near as to be bet- 
tered by the air bf the climate." 

Well, what a preface is here ! sufficient, in fact, to herald 
an entire volume of a Laureat. 

Scenery of the Rhine, between Mayence and Cologne. 
October, 1843:— 

The Rhine ! The Rhine ! The river of nations ! 

Reveals the sublime, in richest creations ; 

A lake it is here, and yonder a river, 

Deep, wide, and clear, and it flows on for ever. 

High on that giddy ledge, hang castle and trench. 

And close by the river's edge, a road of the French ; 

From the heart of the Rhine there rises a tower, 

Above terrace and vine, frown turrets of power ; 

Soft in that dell a sweet village reposes, 

And the scalp of that hill an old convent exposes. 

These castles all hoary, 

So famous in story. 
Each heart that can feel must admire ; 

But each has its legion, 

As wild as the region. 
Of Dragons, and Devils, and Love, and Desire. 



868 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

In times erected, 

When chiefs protected, 
From Drachenfels to Aue-Shonborner ; 

When a dreadful might, 

Without the right. 
The weak subjected to the stronger. 

Those seldom fail. 

Who read the tale 
Of love and bloody rivalry, 

To linger here. 

And drop a tear. 
O'er days of ancient chivalry. 

But purer minds, 

Whom virtue binds. 
And facts, — not fiction's mystery, 

These ruins scan. 

Ashamed of man, 
Condemned by faithful history. 

Behold yonder spire, serenely appearing, 

O'er vineyards still higher, another is peering. 

How calmly that village sleeps, close to the water, 

G*iarded by rocky steeps, and ramparts for slaughter. 

A town on that bank, with dark walls surrounded, 

And a moat, deep and dank, which whole armies confounded. 

Farewell to the plains now, all hail to the mountains, 

With vine-covered brow, and sparkling fountains ^ 

Bushes the torrent on, down the ravine. 

Headlong the rocks among, now are we seen, 

Safe by the jutting rocks, our bark as it surges. 

Quivers in eddying shocks, — straightway emerges 

A scene, — superlatively grand ! 

Mountains are on mountains piled. 

The work of an Almighty hand. 

Frowning basaltic, huge, rugged, wild ! 

Omnipotence around, displays architecture, 

Unbelief to confound, and gloomy conjecture ; 

His impress is here, disclosed and undoubted. 

In characters clear, as when sons of God shouted. 

And morning-stars sang of the might of His power, 

And the universe rang in our world's first hour. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 369 

It is not unfit, 

To have music here yet, 
To the honour and glory of God ; 

The tones of the echoes, 

Awake in the grottoes, 
And are spreading his praises abroad. 

If the winds were up. 

Through the rough mountain top, 
In caves were their voices replying ; 

If pinnacled ledge. 

And that precipice edge. 
With nature's own music were sighing. 

Had we the lightnings. 

As the musical strings, 
Red through the heavens revealed ; 

The thunder's strong hand. 

Had these chords at command, 
By the might of his thunderbolts wielded. 

And the loud repeat, 

Of the echoes deep. 

Which never sleep. 

But always keep 
Equal time with equal number ; 

This organ peal, 

Would make us feel, 

That praises real, 

God could reveal. 
In music of the winds and thunder. 

I should like to be here, 

When the moonbeams clear 
Are asleep on rock, river, and tower ; 

To gaze on a scene, 

From that silent ravine, 
So rich in magnificent power. 

In a silence so sweet. 
And a scene so replete 
With all that could awe and inspire ; 



370 CONTINENTAL LETTERS, 

Inspirations how high, 
Might descend from the sky 
On the soul, with celestial fire. 

How varied the hue of water and mountains, 
The changes are new as the sparkles of fountains, 
"With shadowy strife, to depres-s and to gladden, 
Like inconstant life, which cheers but to sadden ; 
But the river streams on, and that gigantic mass, 
Is reflected thereon, as a face in a glass. 

The grandeur increases. 

As one wonder ceases. 
Another arises, to start and surprise us ; 

Here are lakes in a chain, 

And ruins again are on every cliff, 

To tell us as if, heaven and earth, 

With legendary story, 
Together did join, to honour the Rhine, — 

To make this the throne of their glory ! 

Accept, honoured Rhine, 

This tribute of mine, 
Due to thy grandeur and power; 

It is roughly express^. 

As the crags on thy crest, 
And wild as thine own Teufelsmaur.* 

It is wild, but sincere, 

Like thine own waters clear, 
Rushing headlong in awful confusion ; 

But concealing no rock. 

The feelings to shock, 
Nor a bend that would lead to delusion. 

Like thy stern Whisperthal,f 

I have echoed back all 
That arrested my faithful attention ; 

As those will agree, 

Who have been up to see 
And interpret Ehrenbreitstein. J 

* <* The devil's wall." f ** The repeating mountain." 

J ** The broad stoue of honour." 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 371 

Then farewell, for ever, 
Magnificent, river, 
Another adieu let me give ; 
With fond recollection 
I oft shall reflect on 
• Thy beauties as long as I live. 

We had some very solemn reflections when, observing 
the place where the Russian and Prussian armies crossed 
the Rhine, on their way to the slaughter field of Water- 
loo ! Near the same place is a jutting tower, from which, 
it is said, Gustavus Adolphus gave orders against the 
Spaniards, who were upon the opposite side of the river. 
Below this are the ruins of Shonberg castle, long the 
family seat of the duke of Shonberg, who was slain at the 
battle of the Boyne, in Ireland. As its crumbling battle- 
ments were disappearing behind a frowning promontory, 
we thought of his probable feelings, when taking a last 
farewell glance at the castle of his fathers, and of the 
many afi*ectionate persons who exchanged looks of love 
from those turrets, as the river was carrying him away 
from their gaze. But when the news arrived that the 
warrior was no more, that his blood, with that of many 
others, had reddened the waters of one of Ireland's rivers, 
what gloom spread itself over these walls ! How many 
tears were shed, and sighs uttered within ! 

" But there the castle, still sublime, 

With turrets falling fast away. 
Remains, — the monument of time ; 

The awful emblem of decay. 
Alas ! the lone deserted wall, 

A mournful ruin now appears ; 
Yet still majestic in its fall, 

Though mouldered by consuming years !'* 

A little before we reached Cologne, as I was walking 
the deck, a brisk-looking young Englishman joined me, 



372 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

and entered into conversation. He had been to Italy, and 
had remained long enough in that Sabbath-breaking 
country to have loosened from his conscience the claims 
of that holy day. Much did he extol the Italians ; and 
his reprehension of his countrymen for their " hypocrisy 
and superstition," were dealt out in no measured terms. 
*<Look," said he, ^'for instance, at the extreme strictness 
inculcated in England about Sunday, and compare it with 
the gay and innocent recreations allowed the Italian 
peasantry. English notions respecting that day, have, I 
admit, rendered dancing and other sports disreputable ; 
and persons who have any respect for their character, 
avoid a course that would shock the popular sense, and 
injure their own respectability; but, Sir, thousands in 
England are driven by this restraint into secret gaming, 
drinking, and lewdness, on the Sunday ; English scrupu- 
losity, therefore, has just made the nation a nation of 
hypocrites, by not letting the population have their 
liberty, like the Italians." 

I have only given you the substance of this young 
reformer's oration. That sentiment of our Lord, " Out 
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak eth," was 
indeed most strikingly illustrated. I had scarcely a 
chance "to get a word in edge-ways." I thought of the 
rustic, standing on the river's brink : Rusticus expectat 
dum transeat amnis^ at ille labitur, et lahetur in omne 
voluhilis cevum: Watching the water with intense interest, 
expecting it to run itself out, that he might pass over dry- 
shod. The case, however, became quite as hopeless to 
me as to the simple peasant ; so I had to plunge in and 
get over the torrent as I best could. 

A mournful admission of the secret desecration of the 
Sabbath caught his attention ; but he was not quite pre- 
pared for the question that succeeded it ; whether he was 
sure that drinking, gaming, and lewdness had no existence 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 373 

nmong his innocent Italian peasantry on the Sabbath-day? 
And whether it should not be a matter of congratulation 
to Protestant England, that there is so much purity and 
stern sanctity ^' found in her public sentiment/' as to 
render vice disreputable ; so as to compel it, at least, to 
hide its deformed head, and perpetrate its abominations in 
secrecy and darkness ? And, whether he could not dis- 
cern, how strangely constructed, or badly warped into a 
liking for evil, that mind must be, which could suppose, 
for a moment, this to be a worse state of things than to 
have vice rampant and unchecked ? I then felt it my duty 
to press home upon his conscience some weighty truth, 
and concluded by remarking : '' The Italian, and other 
continental nations, can indeed violate the Sabbath with- 
out remorse ; and why ? Because the law of God has 
been rendered void by the traditions and corruptions of 
Popery/' 

" I should like much, Sir," he rejoined, '' that you would 
recommend me some work explanatory of the Sabbath and 
its obligations, as, really, my mind is not settled upon the 
subject, and I very much desire information.'* '' There is 
a work to be had," I replied, '^ the best I have ever seen; 
it is very concise, and easy to be understood." "And 
pray. Sir, what is its title ?" Well, Sir, I shall not trouble 
you with the title, but shall repeat you the entire work : 
'^ Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days 
shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh 
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt 
not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy 
man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the 
stranger that is within thy gates : For in six days the 
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and ajl that in them 
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed 
the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exod. 20: 9-11. 
"0!" he exclaimed, ''I knew all that before, but I wish 
32 



374 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

to have my reason satisfied ; reason has been given us as 
well as faith. Reason, Sir, has its claims." My reply 
was : This is a law which has come from God, and is it 
unreasonable to obey it ? Is it any less reasonable, do you 
suppose, than those other commandments, which are given 
in the same code of laws : '' Thou shalt not kill ; Thou 
shalt not steal?" See Exodus, twentieth chapter. Nor 
can you, my dear ^ir, deprive the Sabbath law of its autho- 
rity over your conduct, without a manifest contempt of 
the claims of Heaven, and a direct defiance of the vengeance 
of the supreme Lawgiver. 

^^ Well," he replied, ^'but Sir, you must be aware that 
people differ in their views of the Sabbath, as to how it is 
to be kept holy; some allowing this and the other thing 
to be consistent with the sanctity of the day. Who shall 
determine for us, under such circumstances?" Here, he 
took a second excursion over " Italian views and manners." 
My reply, I perceived, rendered a change of subject neces- 
sary, for he got very much out of humour ; he was turned 
over to an exposition of the Sabbath law by God himself: 
'' If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing 
thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a 
delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour 
him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own 
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : Then shalt thou 
delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride 
upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the 
heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." Isaiah 58 : 13,14. 

^« Alas !" I thouojlit, " Sabbath-breakino; is not so secret 
in England, as all this assumes ;" but it was best, perhaps, 
to combat the poor fellow on the ground he chose to occupy. 
And who can tell, but this '^ bread cast upon the waters," 
may be seen after many days ? We reached Cologne about 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 375 

eight o'clock in the evening, where we tarried all night ; 
and next morning, we were up by four o'clock, and oflF 
by railway for this city, where we arrived about nine in 
the morning, accompanied by torrents of rain. 

In consequence of disagreeable weather, our observa- 
tions have as yet been very limited. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, once an imperial city of Germany, is 
now within the dominions of his Prussian Majesty. It 
was long the favourite residence of Charlemagne, who re- 
paired and beautified it, after it had been destroyed by the 
Huns, under Attila, A. D. 451, and made it the capital of 
his entire empire, north of the Alps. Aix-la-Chapelle, 
you will perceive, is the French name of the city ; Aix, 
signifying the same as aqua [water] in Latin ; and the 
whole may be Anglicised, " The waters of the chapel ;'' so 
called, from its celebrated mineral springs, and a chapel 
within the cathedral, famous for its relics. 

The reputation of these sulphureous springs stood high 
in the time of Charlemagne, and they continue to attract 
a vast concourse of people from various parts of the con- 
tinent, for health or pleasure ; as the Americans resort to 
Saratoga, and the English to Bath and Harrogate. The 
temperature of the hot springs varies, we have been in- 
formed, from 112 to 143 degrees of Fahrenheit. The 
chemical ingredients have been thus analyzed : elastic 
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and a small quantity of car- 
bonic acid ; carbonate of soda, muriate of soda, and car- 
bonate of lime ; in what proportions, I have not learned. 

Previous to the dissolution of the Germanic empire, this 
city contained a population of one hundred thousand souls ; 
now, it has not above forty-one thousand. 

The city stands in an agreeable valley, and consists of 
two towns, the inner and outer ; the old encircling the new. 
The streets are spacious, though generally indifferently 



376 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

paved. The houses are high, and sufficiently ancient arid 
picturesque to suit your antiquarian taste, were you here.* 

There are eighteen or twenty fountains, spurting their 
waters in different parts of the city, which might be well 
dispensed with to-day, as the whole heavens seem if dis- 
solving, and becoming Forties aquce duleis, as Cicero would 
say: "Fountains of sweet waters.'' 

There is considerable taste displayed upon a fountain in 
the centre of the market place, fronting the town-hall. A 
handsomely-sculptured vase of bronze, receives the water 
in the first place, from whence it falls into a large basin 
of stone, and flows from thence, publicum honum^ through 
the mouths of dolphins. Over and above the whole is a 
statue of Charlemagne, as large as life, holding in one 
hand a sceptre, and in the other an imperial globe, sur- 
mounted by a cross. 

The cathedral, — a venerable Gothic pile, — is an object of 
interest to all foreigners ; not indeed for any beauty dis- 
played in its architecture, but on account of its antiquity ; 
part of it having existed ever since the days of Charle- 
magne ; as also, on account of its being the place of sepul- 
ture of that monarch. The most ancient part, is that 
which bears the octagonal form, surmounted by a cupola. 
Two corridors, thirty feet wide, one above the other, en- 
compass this octagon, and open into it by a succession of 
arches. In the rear, are chapels corresponding with these 
arches, which are entered from the corridors. By the skill 
of an Italian, Bernardino, the vaulted ceiling of the upper- 
most corridor has been decorated with paintings on Scrip- 
ture subjects, of considerable merit, both in colouring and 
execution. 

The resting-place of Charlemagne is underneath the cen- 



*- The architectural details would be uninteresting, I fear, to European 
readers. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 877 

tral dome of the octagon alluded to ; and is covered with 
a plain slab, with this inscription, — 

" Carolo Magno." 

Formerly, there was a tomb of black marble over the 
vault, which was totally destroyed by the French soldiers. 
The depredations of the army of that nation have been 
enormous over all the continent. Everything of interest, 
which they could not carry away, they either mutilated or 
destroyed, with more than barbarian recklessness. 

The tomb of this monarch, however, was disturbed long 
before the French meddled with it. The emperor Otho 
III. had it opened, and rifled the body of the insignia of 
the empire, with which it was covered. It was decorated 
with the imperial jewels. Charlemagne was found sitting 
upon his throne in the vault, thus adorned, and with an illu- 
minated copy of tl^p Gospels spread across his knees ; which 
is said to be still in existence. The tomb was again opened 
about seven hundred years ago, by Frederic Barbarossa I., 
in the presence of the bishops of Liege and Cologne, by 
whom the dust was placed in a sarcophagus ; at which time 
the present magnificent chandelier was suspended over the 
tomb. It is of gilt bronze, thirteen feet in diameter. 

The chair, or throne of Charlemagne was then removed, 
and stands, at present, beneath an arcade, within one of 
the corridors already alluded to. This is a celebrated 
relic, and highly valued by the citizens. None have ever 
questioned its genuineness ; it is*universally supposed to 
be the real throne upon which that monarch sat. It con- 
sists of four slabs of white marble, fastened by iron clamps, 
and is ascended by five or six steps. His throne was en- • 
tombed with him ; and upon it the monarch was seated, 
as already related. Kings, from time immemorial, have 
humbly abdicated the throne at the mandate of death, 
however strong the ''ruling passion" may have been. 
Charlemagne, on the contrary, ordained, that he should 
32* 



378 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

occupy it after that event. But avarice and power, which 
have despoiled many a living king, deprived the dead 
monarch of his throne. It, and the insignia, were after- 
wards used at the coronation of the emperors of Germany. 
When Napoleon, whom one has designated as " the very 
incarnation of ambition," came down like a thunder-storm 
upon the Germanic empire, and shattered it to pieces, this 
chair, being no longer required for purposes of royalty, 
was thrown aside. 

It is related, that when Napoleon and Josephine were 
in this city, they visited the cathedral, attended by a 
Roman Catholic bishop. The prelate opened the wooden 
case which covers the throne, and invited Napoleon to be 
seated ; but he abruptly turned away. Som^ have sup- 
posed he designed this as a mark of contempt ; as if to 
insinuate he was superior to Charlemagne, and therefore 
despised the intended honour ; but others have thought, 
he suspected the. wary bishop of a design to extort some 
favour. If so. Napoleon realized very soon the correct- 
ness of his suspicion. The bishop iminediately turned to 
Josephine, requesting her to ''ascend the throne," which 
she did, with her usual good-nature. When seated, the 
cunning bishop presented a request, already drawn up for 
the occasion, that she would use her influence with Napo- 
leon to procure an organ for the church, to replace the 
one destroyed by the French soldiers. She asked and 
obtained the favour on the spot; and it is still called, 
''Josephine's organ." The above is, I believe, a correct 
version of the story, which has been variously related. 

The old sexton, having enthroned us very politely, in- 
stead of waiting a speech from the throne, delivered an 
eloquent one himself, the half of which we did not under- 
stand. We then descended to the choir, which is a hand- 
some quadrangle. Upon the high altar stands one of the 
principal idols of the place, the Virgin Mary, with a gilt 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 379 

crown ; a gift, it is said, of her namesake, Mary Queen 
of Scots. We noticed a number of good paintings, with 
a profusion of images and altars, around which were 
adoring worshippers. 

There is an old legend recorded in the annals of this 
cathedral, which, I presume, no good Papist is at liberty 
to disbelieve. The year, as the story runs, in which it 
was dedicated, A. D. 804, Leo III. summoned 365 bishops, 
one for every day in the year, to come and assist at the 
consecration. The day arrived, and so did all the bishops 
except two ; but such a serious deficiency so afi'ected the 
dead, that two bishops came out of their graves, and per- 
formed their part of the ceremonies, and returned, imme- 
diately afterwards, to their proper places in their coffins. 

The cathedral has doors of bronze ; and, while upon the 
marvellous, there is another story, which I will give you 
in the language of a grave historian : '' The citizens of 
Aix-la-Chapelle, being unable to raise money to complete 
the building (the cathedral), borrowed some from the devil 
(how, or how much, is not stated), and surrendered in re- 
turn the first soul that should pass the church doors. 
When the building was finished, nobody could be found to 
fulfil the conditions of this wicked bargain ; and so great 
was the fear of the devil's clutches, in this most believing 
town, that the church might have stood empty to the pre- 
sent day, if a priest had not hit upon a lucky device of 
hunting through the church a wolf which they had for- 
tunately caught alive. The devil, full of spite at finding 
himself outwitted, slammed the bronze doors behind him 
with such violence, that they cracked. In order to put 
unbelievers to shame, who might be bold enough to con- 
jecture that the crack in the doors was caused by the 
wind violently shutting them, two bronze figures stand 
outside ; one of which is the wolf, and the other the con- 
demned soul of the wolf, in the form of a monstrous pine 



380 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

cone." Oh, Popery! Popery! the same all the world 
over, — only evil, and that continually ! Were it possible 
to obtain money from the devil, by the barter of a soul, 
the Romish priesthood would make the exchange without 
a scruple, "For the good of the church." When money 
was wanted to complete St. Peter's church at Rome, im- 
mense sums were raised by the traffic in indulgences ; but 
this was a sacrifice of souls by wholesale. 

The collection of relics is on a large scale here ; another 
method by which the priests obtain cash. Here are to be 
seen " the swaddling-clothes of Jesus, a gown of the Vir- 
gin Mary, some hair off her eye-brows, the shoes or sandals 
of Joseph, with which he walked all the way into Egypt ;" 
with hundreds of other articles, almost as ancient, about 
which, of course, there are some marvellous stories ; but I 
have inserted quite enough for one letter, nor do I expect 
you will ask for any more. We leave for Brussels shortly. 

* * * :|e ' 

J. C. 



LETTER XIV. 

Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 1843. 
Dear Sir, 

We have just returned from the plains of Waterloo, 
the scene of that terrible battle, which gave peace to 
long-afflicted Europe. 

Before transcribing my observations on the battle-field, 
allow me to present a few pencillings, connected with 
several previous days. The weather continuing unfa- 
vourable, at Aix-la-Chapelle we had our passports exa- 
mined [visesjy by the proper authorities, and set out by 
diligence for this city. In a couple of hours we " crossed 
the line" from the Prussian territory, into that of his 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 381 

Belgic Majesty. We were not, however, permitted to 
proceed beyond the frontier, without having passports and 
baggage examined. Trunks, carpet-bags, band-boxes, and 
bundles, were all unpacked from the top of the diligence, 
and inspected. This was very annoying to some, but the 
politeness and gentlemanly conduct of these officers, ren- 
dered complaint unreasonable. Indeed, all the officers of 
this sort we have met with during our tour, have been 
most polite and affable men, showing all possible delicacy 
in turning over articles, as if determined to give the 
traveller the least discomfort possible, consistent with the 
discharge of their duties. 

A few hours after passing the Belgic frontier we came 
to a railway depot, and proceeded by that mode of con- 
veyance to Brussels, where we arrived about ten o'clock 
at night, attended with abundance of rain. 

We were much pleased, on the whole, with the general 
aspect of Belgium. You have never been in England ; 
but the green fields, luxuriant thorn hedges, healthy plan- 
tations, pretty mansions, neat cottages, with flower gar- 
dens in front, flourishing towns, noble manufactories, and 
highly cultivated farms, bear a striking similarity to the 
common features of English scenery. Everything beto- 
kens a thriving and enterprising nation. 

Next morning, after delivering our passports, we enjoyed 
a walk through the city. 

Brussels, you are aware, is the capital of Belgium, and 
the residence of the king. The streets of the city are 
spacious, and many of the houses and public buildings 
display both taste and magnificence. 

Brussels has quite the appearance of an American city 
in the whiteness and beauty of the houses, in showy shops, 
the cleanliness of the streets, the purity and clearness of 
the atmosphere, absence of squalid poverty, presence of 
wealth and comfort, general appearance of intelligence 



382 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

and contentment, together with the brisk and business-like 
motions of the inhabitants. Part of the city stands upon 
a gentle hill ; and it is of this I have been remarking. 
The remainder is on lower ground, and more ancient, 
bearing a strict resemblance to other continental towns, in 
narrow, crooked streets, and high, antique houses ; and 
the cleanliness is by no means remarkable. The Town- 
Hall, which stands nearly in the centre of the city, is con- 
sidered one of the handsomest structures in the Low 
Countries. The building is of a square form, loaded with 
ornamental sculpture, and harmonizes, in the style of its 
architecture, with the purest specimens of Lombard Gothic. 
Its light and elegant spire is an imposing object ; rising, 
as it does, in the form of a turreted pyramidical tower ; 
and shoots up to the proud height of three hundred and 
sijity-four feet. A statue of the Archangel Michael, in 
copper gilt, seventeen feet high, crowns the top. They 
have rendered the " saint/' as they term him, a poor com- 
pliment, by converting him into a weathercock. The 
workmanship of this spire is exquisite ; carved and fretted 
in the richest manner ; and though it does not stand ex- 
actly in the centre of the fagade, the irregularity is not so 
offensive to the eye as might be supposed. 

In a room in this edifice, Charles V. abdicated the 
sovereignty of this part of his dominions, in favour of his 
son, Philip IL, in the year 1555. 

The Park is a handsome enclosure, shaded by stately 
trees, intersected by broad gravel walks, lined with elm, 
lime, and walnut trees, and embellished with statuary, 
classic aud modern, by no means remarkable for modesty 
or beauty of execution. It is well if a taste for what they 
denominate the "fine arts,'' is not cultivated here at the 
expense of public morals. How females could promenade, 
unblushingly, amidst such an array of naked figures, and 
in the company of gentlemen, we could not well conceive; 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 383 

and yet they were quite as numerous as those of our own 
sex. The park is encompassed with noble buildings, 
among which, in a conspicuous situation, is the king's 
palace. 

As the time for our return to England was drawing 
near, we set out for the plains of Waterloo, distant ten or 
twelve miles, seated on the top front of an old shattered 
diligence. <' Directly in front" sat the driver, aged nearly 
three-score and ten ; and if he " was na fou, he just had 
plenty ;" and within the same box with ourselves, underneath 
a shabby cover, fronted with glass, sat our guard, — a 
finished specimen of an old sot ; and his breath ! an atmo- 
sphere of rottenness. The two horses, — of all living crea- 
tures we had ever seen yoked to carriage, cart, or sledge, — 
were perfectly unique. One, a skeleton, covered with a 
badly used hide ; and the other, though reduced to skin 
and bone, a furious demon in his way ; performing his part 
in a sort of kicking and flinging pace, and he usually came 
out of his paroxysms and the traces at the same moment. 
Eight or ten jerks were generally succeeded by a sharp 
crack from some part of the harness, or vehicle, giving 
way, and a scene followed of fretting, foaming, chattering, 
and tinkering, by the conducteicr and his compagnon^ such 
as I shall not attempt to describe ; our cheval^ in the 
mean time, turning tail to Waterloo, having ''faced about," 
as if to learn what we thought of his evolutions. 

When all was " put to rights," a start was again effected, 
and the horn sounded as if we were travelling at the rate 
of seven or eight miles an hour, warning all men and 
beasts to keep on their own side of the highway, while we 
were barely able to discern that our motion was towards 
Waterloo. About half-way, we arrived at a tavern, when 
our heroes dismounted, called for '' something to keep their 
courage up," and in the fulness of their benevolence, sent 



384 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

out two loaves of rye bread for our horses, which they de- 
voured immediately. 

Before leaving Brussels, we obtained a sketch of the 
battle, and amused ourselves in reading it by the way : a 
thing I had done before in my quiet library, secure from 
the hazards and perils of the bloody battle-field, so vividly 
described by the historian ; but here we knew not the 
moment when the elements of danger above or beneath, 
might lay us on the ground in our glory. 

The afternoon was one of the most delightful with which 
our world is favoured ; and when near the village of Wa- 
terloo, we enjoyed the beauty of a rich Belgian sunset. 
Shortly after, we saw in the distance, the conical mound 
raised on the plains to commemorate the battle, having 
quite the resemblance of one of the pyramids of Egypt. 

We spent the night in an uncomfortable tavern in Wa- 
terloo, but it was the best in the place ; and Mr. Holgate 
moralized on the matter thus : '' It must be with us here, 
as in passing through this world ; we can put up with 
many inconveniences with cheerful patience, when we 
know this is not our Jiome ; we are only here for a night, 
and then farewell to it for ever." In the bar-room, we 
found an old woman of nearly fourscore playing at cards 
for money, with two young men. 

Next morning, we walked over the battle-field, '' Amidst 
the quiet simplicity of whose scenery is excited a moral 
interest, deeper and more potent even than that which is 
produced by gazing upon the sublimest efi*orts of nature in 
her most romantic recesses.'' Our guide, a sensible, in- 
telligent man, was servant on the neighbouring farm of 
Mont St. Jean, at the time of the battle, and assisted in 
taking care of the wounded and the dying during iLe 
dreadful conflict. He was also employed, with many 
others, several days in burying and burning the dead. 
They were compelled, he said, to resort to the latter 
method, in consequence of not being able to dig pits, 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 385 

before the stench from the heaps of slain became intoler- 
able. It was no small matter, to dispose of 30,000 dead 
bodies ! He pointed out a spot where they burned 900 
corpses, and such was the vitiated state of the atmosphere, 
he was thrown, poor fellow, into a long and severe fever. 
A " commissioner ' attended the process, whose business 
it was to strip the dead of money, watches, and other val- 
uables ; but they were forced at last to cast them into pits 
on the plains, with their clothes on. 

You are acquainted with the many plans, in which are 
laid down the respective positions of the hostile armies, 
together with the details of that dreadful battle which de- 
cided the fate of Europe. Immediately after leaving the 
village of Mont St. Jean, we were introduced to a gently 
swelling ridge of land, which was occupied by the army 
under Wellington, consisting of sixty-five thousand men. 
A shallow valley, of not more than three-quarters of a 
mile in extent, separates it from the heights, where Napo- 
leon's army, of eighty thousand men, were drawn up 
in battle array, about ten o'clock in the forenoon of the 
18th of June, 1815. 

Wellington's plan, it would appear, was to keep posses- 
sion of this ridge, and necessitate the French to undergo 
the exhaustion and responsibility of aggressive movements, 
which afi'orded him, no doubt, considerable advantage. 

There were several places, which we felt a mournful in- 
terest in visiting : — 

1st. The farm-house and yard. La Haie Saint e^ where 
the troops composing the German Legion under Welling- 
ton were cut to pieces. It stood in front of the British 
centre, and was desperately assaulted ; nor was it taken, 
till every man of them had ceased to breathe. 

2d. The country house, named Hougomont, which cov- 
ered the centre of the right wing of the British army. In 
less than half an hour, fifteen hundred men perished in a 
33 



386 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

small orchard close to this mansion. In no part of the 
field of Waterloo, are there so many marks of the horrible 
doings of war, as here. The trees are disfigured with 
scars and blotches, and a little brick wall, behind which 
an English regiment defended itself victoriously, had its 
brick pounded into powder, by the enemy's artillery, along 
the entire side fronting the French. We thought of those 
lines, — 

*'Wild storms have torn this ancient wood; 
But a wilder is at hand, 
With hail of iron, and rain of blood, 
To sweep and scathe the land." 

So bravely was Hougoumont defended, that it withstood 
the repeated charges of a large portion of the French 
army. But the artillery of the contending armies set the 
mansion-house on fire, which was burned to the ground ; 
and the flames extended to the barn yard, where the wound- 
ed of both parties were heaped together indiscriminately, 
bleeding and dying among the straw. Poor fellows ! they 
were soon wrapped in smoke and flames, and being weak 
through loss of blood, were unable to help themselves, 
otherwise than by agonizing cries ; but the furious com- 
batants were too hotly engaged to attend to them ; thus 
many of them died a death, far more horrible than if they 
had been slaughtered on the field. Four or five, however, 
had strength sufiicient to crawl into the family chapel, 
where the fire pursued them, and strangely stopped, — just 
charring the bottom of a large cross, which stood over the 
door in the interior ; and, though nearly suffocated with 
smoke, they were preserved; a subject or ^"^ miracle" this, 
which has, doubtless, been the theme of many a Romish 
priest. 

The chapel is a ruin, but retains part of its roof, and a 
few images. Our guide, pointing to a hole in the wall of 
the chapel^ where a brick was wanting, said he was pre- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 387 

sent when Lord Byron carved his name on the brick, but 
that a French gentleman cut it out a few years ago, and 
carried it off. 

It is difficult to account for the circumstance, that this 
English nobleman took such slight notice of this great 
battle, in his justly-celebrated poem of Childe Harold ; 
unless we suppose that he was not one of Wellington's 
admirers, or that his love of country had, even at that 
early period of his career, been almost or altogether ex- 
tinguished. One would think, considering the talents, 
principles, and temperament of this great poet, that his 
enthusiasm must have kindled into a* blaze at the sight of 
Waterloo, walking over it, as he did, a little after the 
dreadful conflict. There is, however, uncommon energy 
and feeling displayed in those fine verses, in which he de- 
scribes the hreahing up of a ball, at Brussels, a few hours 
before the battle; — a most unfit place, ^'by the way,'* 
from whence to proceed to the field of blood and death ; 
and thence, to the judgment bar of God. I have only an 
extract at hand, but I believe it contains the entire verses 
to which I allude : — 

** There was a sound of revelry by night, 

And Belgium's capital had gather'd then 

Her Beauty and her Chivalry, and bright 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 

A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when 

Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 

Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again, 

And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; 
But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ! 

Did ye not hear it ? — No ; Hwas but the wind, 

Or the car rattling o'er the stony street ; 

On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined ; 

No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet 

To chase the glowing hours with flying feet — 

But, hark! — that heavy sound breaks in once more, 



388 CONTINENTAL LETTERSc 

As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; 
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! 
Arm ! Arm ! it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar ! 

Within a window' d niche of that high hall 
Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain ; he did hear 
That sound the first amidst the festival, 
And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear ; 
And when they smiled because he deem'd it near, 
His heart more truly knew that peal too well 
Which stretch'd his father on a bloody bier, 
And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell : 
He rush'd into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. 

Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, 
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, 
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago 
Blush'd at the praise of their own loveliness ; 
And there were sudden partings, such as press 
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs 
Which ne'er might be repeated ; who could guess 
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes. 
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise ! 

And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed. 
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, 
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, 
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war ; 
And the deep thunder peal on peal afar ; 
And near, the beat of the alarming drum 
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star ; 
While throng'd the citizens with terror dumb. 
Or whispering, with white lips — " The foe ! They come ! they come !" 

And wild and high the " Cameron's gathering" rose ! 
The war-note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills 
Have heard, and heard, too, have her Saxon foes : — 
How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills, 
Savage and shrill ! But with the breath which fills 
Their mountain-pipe, so fill the mountaineers 
With the fierce native daring which instils 
The stirring memory of a thousand years, 
And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 389 

And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves, 
Dewy with nature's tear-drops, as they pass, 
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves. 
Over the unreturning brave, — alas ! 
Ere evening to be trodden like the grass 
Which now beneath them, but above shall grow 
In its next verdure, when this fiery mass 
Of living valour, rolling on the foe, 
And burning with high hopes, shall moulder cold and low. 

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life. 
Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay, 
The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife. 
The morn the marshalling in arms, — the day 
Battle's magnificently-stern array ! 
The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent 
The earth is cover'd thick with other clay. 
Which her own clay shall cover, heap'd and pent, 
Rider and horse, — friend, foe, — in one red burial blent. 

We were shown, 3d, The position occupied by the 
ninety-second regiment (English), to the left of the British 
centre, which was reduced by the galling fire of the 
French to about two hundred ; and yet that handful of 
men sustained the shock of a column, composed of two 
thousand Frenchmen ; and, taking advantage of the wa- 
vering motions of their enemies, rushed upon them like a 
whirlwind, shouting, ''Scotland for ever!" and were vic- 
torious. 

Near this spot occurred one of the most appalling con- 
cussions of cavalry, known in modern warfare. The 
" Scotch Grays,'' and a brigade of heavy dragoons grap- 
pled in murderous conflict with a column of French cavalry, 
headed by a body of Cuirasseurs. It was said by those 
who had witnessed it, to be past description dreadful. 

4th. The place near the centre of the British line, 
where Sir Alexander Gordon was killed, in the moment 
of remonstrating with Wellington, for exposing his valua- 
ble life to the same hazard as any private soldier. 
^3* 



390 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

5th. The closing scene of the battle, where Welling- 
ton's Guards, obedient to his laconic command, " Up, 
Guards, and at them!" fell upon the veteran guards of 
Napoleon, — the chosen troops of France ; whose battalions 
had long been the terror of Europe. Here hung the fate 
of the battle, and of Europe ; you know the result. 

When walking over the lately-ploughed soil, upon which 
this terrific encounter took place, I picked a musket-ball 
out of a furrow ; the late rain had just washed it visible ; 
probably it was the messenger of death to some poor 
wretch, by which he was hurried unprepared into the 
eternal world. Thus far the British part of the field. 

On the French side we were shown : 1st. Napoleon's 
place of observation ; from which he had a full view of 
the position of both armies ; his own presenting a front 
of two miles, and that of the British one mile and a half. 
Here he exultingly exclaimed, at the dawning of the day 
of battle, upon seeing the English still in their positions : 
^' Ah ! I have them ! — these English !" He had suspected, 
it seems, they would fly during the storm of the previous 
night. Here, in the beginning of the battle, he coolly 
remarked, on the motions of his enemy's troops, " How 
steadily those troops take their ground ! How beautifully 
those cavalry form ! Observe those gray horses (the Scotch 
Grays), are they not noble troops ? Yet, in half an hour, 
I shall cut them to pieces !" Here, during the battle, he 
declaimed against the obstinacy of the English ; taking 
snuff incessantly from his waistcoat pocket, and casting 
half of it away with an extended arm, and muttering, 
" These English are devils, — will they never be beaten ? 
I shall beat them yet ; but it is a pity to destroy such 
brave troops." 

At every intelligence of repulse or reverse, he sent forth 
his stern command, '' Forward ! Forward !" When a gene- 
ral sent the information that his men were almost cut to 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 891 

pieces, and that he could maintain his position no longer, 
inquiring what he should do, Napoleon turned his back on 
the messenger, saying, " Let him carry the battery." 

2d. The hollow part of the road, between the farm- 
house of Belle-Alliance and La Sainte Haie, fronting the 
British centre, where Napoleon harangued his Guard of 
fifteen hundred men, — the hitherto unconquerable war- 
riors of France ; and consigned them to Marshal Ney, 
who led them to be butchered by British bayonets. And 
in the closing struggle, upon a small ridge to the left, he 
walked, as he contemplated the frightful butchery, and 
closing drama of Waterloo. Perceiving the battle lost, he 
exclaimed, "It is finished !" and with his suite fled from 
the field. 

** I looked on the field where the battle was spread, 
When thousands stood forth in their glancing array, 
And the beam from the steel of the valiant was shed 
Through the dim rolling clouds, that o'ershadow'd the fray. 

I saw the dark forest of lances appear, — 

As the ears of the harvest, unnumber'd they stood ; 

I heard the stern shout, as the foe-men drew near 

Like the storm, that lays low the proud pines of the wood. 

Afar the harsh notes of the war-drum were rolled, 
Uprousing the wolf from the depths of his lair ; 
On high to the gust stream'd the banner's red fold. 
O'er the death-close of Hate, and the scowl of Despair. 

I look'd on the field of contention again, 
"When the sabre was sheathed, and the tempest had past, 
The wild weed and thistle grew rank on the plain, 
And the fern softly sighed in the low wailing blast. 

But where swept the ranks of that dark frowning host — 
As the ocean in might — as the storm-cloud in speed ! 
Where now were the thunders of Victory's boast, — 
The slayer's dread wrath, and the strength of bis steed ! 



392 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Not a time-wasted cross, not a mouldering stone, 
To mark the lone scene of their shame or their pride ;* 
One grass-covered mound tells the traveller alone, 
Where thousands lay down in their anguish and died ! 

Oh ! glory ! — behold thy famed guerdon*s extent, 
For this, toil thy slaves through their earth-wasting lot, — 
A name like the mist, when night's beacons are spent, — 
A grave, with its tenants unwept and forgot ?" 

The conical mound, already referred to, is an object of 
mournful interest. It is about one-third of a mile in cir- 
cumference, and above two hundred feet high, surmounted 
by a colossal bronze lion. The pedestal upon which the 
lion stands, bears the simple inscription, <^June 18, 
1815." 

" The mound and the lion have equally been the subject 
of ill-natured remark," says an intelligent traveller, who 
visited the field some years ago, ^^but the one containing 
the bones of friends and foes who fell in that dreadful 
day, and the other composed of cannon taken from the 
enemy, would appear to be aptly enough appropriated, as 
being at once, a memorial, a trophy, and a tomb." 

From its summit we had a fine view of the plains. The 
place was pointed out where Blucher, with his Prussians, 
emerged from the woods, in the awful crisis, and assisted 
in turning the tide of battle. 

" Man must soar," — otherwise climb; and, by the aid 
of a ladder, stationed there for those " who heave at some- 
thing high," we ascended the pedestal, and stood beside 

* There are a few monuments on the ground, besides the Mound ; 
that to the honour of the German Legion, and one or two others, to the 
memory of distinguished officers. These, however, are on the British 
side ; on the ground occupied by the French, there is nothing left, as a 
a record of their shame or pride. We noticed, also, numerous monu- 
ments, in the church of the village of Waterloo, in memory of distin- 
guished persons who fell on that day. J. C. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 393 

the lion. It weighs forty-eight thousand pounds. I 
barely encircled one of the fore legs with both arms. 

The French who aided in the last Belgian revolution, 
when passing over the plains, vented their spleen by a few 
voUies at the lion, by which it was injured a little. Silly 
revenge ! 

From thence we walked over to the farm-house, La 
Belle Alliance ; which stood in the centre of the French 
army, and where Napoleon stood part of the time during 
the battle, and sent forth his commands. Here Welling- 
ton and Blucher met, a few minutes after Napoleon had 
left the field ; and with feelings of indescribable emotion, 
embraced each other as united conquerors. The spot 
where they met is pointed out to the traveller, and the 
event is commemorated by a slab, inserted in the wall, 
with a suitable inscription : a thrilling circumstance this, 
we reflected, but not to be compared with the sudden and 
unexpected meeting of warriors in heaven. 

St. Paul, as an apostle and messenger of the " Prince 
of Peace," has no congeniality of soul, we are sure, with 
such scenes of bloodshed and slaughter ; yet many of his 
most impressive and stirring illustrations are military. In 
the sixth chapter of Ephesians, he spiritualizes the entire 
armour, defensive and offensive, of a Grecian soldier. 

Wellington and Blucher met on soil saturated with 
blood, where, only a few minutes previously, human beings 
had conflicted with more than infernal cruelty; where, 
with hearts as hard as the bullets which ploughed these 
plains, an infuriated soldiery rolled onward the tornado 
of destruction, where, — 

"With gleaming steely contending squadrons closed, 
And war's red terrors marr'd the face of spring." 

Their meeting was accidental, at twilight, and sur- 



394 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

rounded by the dead and the dying; the groans of the 
latter rending the heavens. 

How very different the meeting of Christian heroes in 
heaven ! No dead nor dying will be seen there ; nor con- 
fused noise of battle will occur ; nor garments rolled in 
blood. (Isaiah 9: 5.) Sudden and unexpected, indeed, 
may be their meeting above ; but " there is no night there, 
for the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof;'' — 
they meet, but it is where, — 

" The rivers of pleasure roll o'er the glad plains ; 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns!" 

It is recorded in the English Methodist Magazine, that 
many years ago, a Methodist preacher, of the name of 
Greenwood, a holy and devoted man of God, was called 
unexpectedly, though not unpreparedly, to die, at War- 
rington. The last night of his life, he preached and 
prayed the whole time, till day-light appeared in the morn- 
ing. He then said, " Another sun shall arise ; Christ, the 
Sun of Righteousness, with healing in his wings;" and 
immediately fell asleep in the Lord. " It is something 
remarkable," says his biographer, ^'that his aged mother, 
a most excellent Christian, died happy in the love of God, 
at Keighly, in Yorkshire, the same morning. What a 
joyful surprise, when those two kindred spirits met 
together at the gates of heaven !" 

The heroes of Waterloo hailed each other at the close 
of one of the most important battles of modern times. 
But how many lives had been sacrificed ! How many 
wives made widows, and children fatherless, and parents 
childless ! What a host of souls went down to perdition 
from the battle-fi.eld of Waterloo ! 

Christian conquerors meet in heaven. Their victory, 
however, has been a bloodless one ; and yet they over- 
came by the blood of the Lamb ! No widows nor father- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 395 

less children are left weeping, nor souls sent to hell by 
their conquests ! And how many and important have 
been their battles and victories we cannot tell, but must 
die to know. 

** Believers have a silent field to fight, 
And their exploits are veil'd from human sight ; 
They, in some nook, where little known they dwell. 
Kneel, pray in faith, and rout the hosts of helL" 

Wellington and Blucher had escaped death, honoured 
the banners of their respective nations, and won the day ; 
but one of them has long since fallen beneath the arm of 
the conqueror of conquerors ; and very soon he will cast 
his unerring weapon at the other. 

When victorious saints meet in glory, they shall die no 
more ; death hath no more dominion over them. 

The heroes already mentioned, escaped a temporal death, 
which might have lasted but for a moment ; one of Wel- 
lington's officers, Sir T. Picton, received a musket ball in 
the temple, and in the twinkling of an eye he was in 
eternity. But the soldiers of Emmanuel have been saved 
into heaven, and from eternal death ; while others of their 
acquaintances may have suddenly plunged into an endless 
hell. 

The Waterloo heroes met amid the congratulations of 
admiring officers and soldiers ; and this was but a prelude 
to that honour which awaited them, from the united voices 
of king and country. What acclamations of joy from 
grateful millions ! How brilliant their triumphant en- 
trances into their respective countries ! How imposing the 
glories with which they were afterward^ encompassed ! 

But when the heroes of the cross make their entry by 
the <^ triumphant way" into heaven, and meet around the 
throne, the transports of joy, at the recognition of those 
who have landed safely in the Paradise of God, are but 



396 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

preludes to the acclamations of innumerable legions. Eter- 
nity alone can unfold the extent of that glory, honour, 
and immortality, expressed in Romans 2 : 7. 

The heroes of Waterloo had a joy from what may be 
termed mutual recollections. There was a period when 
Wellington's mind was a prey to the most anxious suspense, 
and when victory appeared more than doubtful ; when he 
knew, should another hour elapse, and Blucher not appear, 
the battle must be lost inevitably. A short time previous 
to Blucher's appearance, Wellington's Aid-de-Camp came 
with information, that the Fifth Division was almost anni- 
hilated, and that it was utterly impossible it could any 
longer maintain its ground ; the general replied, " I can- 
not help it; they must keep their ground with myself to 
the last man.* * * Would to God that night or Blucher 
were come!" But at that awful crisis Blucher and his 
Prussians came in sight ; Wellington's countenance bright- 
ened, and he exclaimed, " There goes old Blucher at last ! 
We shall beat them yet!" Blucher, on the other hand, 
enjoyed the delightful consciousness, that he had arrived 
in time to turn the tide of battle, although his friend had 
had the superior honour of fighting through the long and 
hazardous day ! 

How many such grateful recollections will animate many 
of the saints, on their meeting in glory, we shall not know 
till our arrival there. There are, no doubt, innumerable 
multitudes in heaven, who recognise each other, with a 
gratitude that is to be eternal, for timely aid received at 
the crisis of many a spiritual conflict, or temporal embar- 
rassment. ^^And I say unto you, make to yourselves 
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; that when ye 
fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." 
Luke 16 : 9. 

Laurels of victory, by the universal consent of all Eu- 
rope, soon adorned the brows of the embracing heroes at 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 397 

Waterloo. But hundreds of hands may yet be raised to 
pluck away those hard-won laurels ! I perceive by one of 
the continental papers, that very lately, at a public meet- 
ing, the name of Wellington has been held up to the con- 
tempt of a hooting multitude ; and that not far from the 
the spot where a proud monument of his victories adorns 
the park of the metropolis of Ireland ! 

But no hand shall ever be uplifted in heaven to tear 
away a single laurel from the brow of the glorified Warriors 
of Emmanuel ; no tongue shall there be moved to detract 
from the glory of their past victories. They overcame all 
their spiritual foes, and put to flight the army of the aliens, 
by means of their faith, and of the weapons which they 
wielded by it ; and that faith w^as often tried as gold in the 
furnace of fire ; but there it shall be " found unto praise, 
and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 
1 Peter, 1:7. 

" Laurels may flourish round the conqueror's tomb, 
But happiest they who win a life to come ; 
Eternal triumphs crown their toil divine, 
And all these triumphs, Christian, shall be thine !" 

"See!" said our guide, "yonder is the house of De- 
costor! Napoleon had him seized, placed on horseback, 
and tied to the saddle, and compelled him to act as a guide 
in some arrangements in the field at the beginning of the 
battle. It was hard in Napoleon to reprimand the poor 
man for flinching to avoid the shot that was flying around 
him, and cold comfort was administered to him : ' Do not 
stir, my friend,' said Napoleon, ' a ball will kill you equally 
in the back as in the front, and wound you more disgrace- 
fully !' '' Bonaparte could be witty when he pleased. 

It is scarcely possible to walk over these plains, or to 

read an account of the closing scenes of the battle, without 

feeling a chilling horror creeping over the soul ; especially 

when contemplating the events of the dreadful night which 

34 



398 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

succeeded the battle. The Prussians, undeterred by the 
shades of night, pursued the flying French. The terrors 
of death fell upon the fugitives, and the panic was uni- 
versal. The moon rose in solemn mid peaceful majesty, 
but her mild beams served to light the pursuing Prussians 
to deeds of slaughter. '' In the town of Genappe alone, 
six miles from the battle-field," it is said, "eight hundred 
lay dead, who had suffered themselves to be cut down like 
cattle.'' 

In the mean-time, on the same night, Wellington led his 
deeply-affected troops over the field ; all was still as death, 
" Save the moans of the wounded, and the agonizing shrieks 
of the dying, which at intervals broke upon the ear, — the 
moon shedding her pale rays upon the dead, piled one upon 
another, as far as the eye could reach, — it was too much 
for Wellington ; he burst into tears. — 

** O'erspread with shatter'd arms the ground appears, 
With broken bucklers, and with shiver d spears : 
Here swords are stuck in hapless warriors kill'd, 
And useless, there, are scattered o'er the field. 
Here on their face, the breathless bodies lie ; 
There, turn their ghastly features to the sky. 
Beside his lord the courser press'd the plain ; 
Beside his slaughtered friend the friend was slain ; 
Foe near to foe, and on the vanquish'd spread 
The victor lies ; the living on the dead ! 
An undistinguish'd din is heard around, 
Mix'd is the murmur, and confused the sound ; 
The threats of anger, and the soldiers' cry. 
The groans of those that fall and those that die.'* 

But could the veil of eternity, on that night, have been 
drawn aside, and could the eye of Wellington, and those 
alive with him on that bloody field, but have discerned the 
souls of the dead of both armies ; what scenes of unutter- 
able horror would have been unfolded to their view ! Ah ! 
who can imagine^ much less describe, the wailings and 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 399 

shrieks of vast numbers hurled into perdition the last few 
hours, burning like a hell, with anger, malice, revenge, and 
each reeking with the blood of his brother ? There is an 
express command, enforced by a most weighty motive, in 
that striking passage of the word of God : " Follow peace 
with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see 
the Lord/' Heb. 12 : 14. But the battle-field would be 
the most unlikely place to find either ; and the conclusion 
is too dreadful to dwell upon, did it not contain a solemn 
warnino: to the livino;. 

Although Napoleon survived the scenes of "Waterloo, it 
was there his career of blood terminated ; and there was 
an awful necessity for this : the civilized world stood 
aghast ; Europe was clothed " in sackcloth and mourning," 
and drenched in tears and blood. It has been calculated 
that Caesar slaughtered two millions of our race during 
his wars ; and to Alexander has been assigned an equal 
portion ; but double that number, that is, four millions of 
human beings are supposed to have been slaughtered in 
the wars of Napoleon. That Providence intended his 
overthrow, and the chastisement of his licentious and in- 
fidel troops on the plains of Waterloo ; that the Lord God 
of Hosts raised up, and called forth the British army, to 
check and destroy his power ; and by these means, to put 
an end to a bloody and unjust war, and to give peace to 
long-afBIcted Europe, I dare not doubt, — I never have 
doubted. But that peace, which lasts to the present day, 
(and may it long continue !) was indeed purchased at a tre- 
mendous saci^fice of human life. The following senti- 
ments, on the battle of Waterloo, by one who, it is evident, 
has thought deeply upon the subject, you will fiot, I hope, 
consider out of place. The language is happy and beau* 
tiful, and the views as just as they are original. '' To those 
who may, like myself, incline to think that a more glorious 
age is about to rise upon the world, and that Waterloo was 



400 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

the thunderstorm which was to give the last clearing to 
the air before that perfect vision, it assumes a loftier cha- 
racter than its mortal triumph. It seems to bear the 
features of a grand immediate interposition of Superior 
Power. The final overthrow of the French empire, which 
was atheistic. Jacobin, and revolutionary, to its latest hour, 
and the utter disgrace of Napoleon (the concentrated spirit 
of the revolution), were at least the results of the battle 
of Waterloo. They may appear to have been its provi- 
dential objects. Had human judgments been previously 
consulted, they would probably have drawn a different plan 
of the battle. The Prussians would have at once joined 
the British, and swept the enemy before them ; or the 
British would have been in force enough to have driven 
in the. French early in the day ; or Napoleon would have 
fallen, or been taken prisoner. But the battle was not to 
be so fought, to be most fatal to the atheistic power. If 
the French had been beaten in the broad day, they might 
have rallied, or retired before superior force ; or, in the 
last event, have been made prisoners in masses. But the 
conflict held on, bloody and disastrous, till the moment 
when they could neither escape nor conquer. Ketreating, 
an hour before nightfall, they might have been saved ; fight- 
ing an hour after it, they might have had the night for 
retreat. But they broke on the edge of darkness. The 
Prussians came up, retarded during the day, to be unfa- 
tigued by battle, and fresh for pursuit. The night was 
made for remediless slaughter. ' Thou moon, in the valley 
of Ajalon !' The distribution of the triumph was judicial. 
England had seen in France only an envenomed enemy. 
Prussia had felt in her a remorseless oppressor. England 
had suffered no serious infliction. Prussia had been steeped 
to the lips in suffering; and to England, on this memo- 
rable day, was given the glory, and to Prussia, the re- 
venge. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 401 

" For the first time since the accession of Napoleon, their 
force was exclusively French; and it was trampled like a 
mire of blood. There has been no instance for these thou- 
sand years, of such a total destruction of an army. The 
flower of France, and the leading strength of the rebellion, 
was the Imperial Guard. It was reserved for the last and 
most complete sacrifice of the day.'* 

**The heavens were sick of crime — dread was the strife 
Where black ambition flung its stake of life. 
The trial came, — the keen and jealous steel, 
Raged, through their quivering ranks; — with faithful zeal, 
The sacrifice was done ! — and on its wing 
The earth sent up the shout of thanksgiving I'* 

With the interesting results of this memorable battle, 
you, my dear Sir, have been long familiar ; as also, with 
the exile, and the particulars connected with the death of 
this unhappy man. ''Never," says one, ''never did meta- 
phor approach so nearly to description as the comparison 
of Bonaparte to a meteor — generated in obscurity, kind- 
ling to almost instantaneous splendour ; shooting to an 
astonishing height ; dazzling the world by its brilliancy ; 
' shaking from its horrid hair pestilence and war' — then, 
as suddenly declining, and, with a rapidity not equalled 
even by its 'upward flight,' losing itself again in the ob- 
scurity from which it sprung. The career of such a man 
is an object, even with those who abhorred him, of natu- 
ral curiosity, and of no unphilosophical wonder. Hence 
it is, that through his whole course, he attracted, in an 
extraordinary degree, the attention of all classes of man- 
kind." 

And now, although on the point of an apology, for the 
length of this letter ; for when I sat down to write you I 
had not the most distant idea of spinning it out to such 
an extent ; yet I cannot help sending you the following, 
which I do not remember having before seen*in any ac- 
34* 



402 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

count of the battle of Waterloo. The melancholy tale, 
it is saidj was communicated by an old soldier who had 
resided in the family of Colonel G. for many years, and 
who had followed him to the field of Waterloo, but was 
accidentally separated from his youthful master, at the 
awful moment of his death: ''Thank God, 'tis over !" 
exclaimed a young officer, as he galloped along the road 
from Brussels to Waterloo. " My Lucy ! we are sepa- 
rated, and perhaps for ever ! Should I not survive this 
my first efibrt for glory, oh ! thou Almighty Father, pro- 
tect my wife !" 

:}: * ;Ji * * 

'' The battle rages in all its fury ; the enemy press on 
and surround one part of the English army, where a young 
officer, with a tremendous shout of 'Death or victory!' 
urged his impetuous steed forward, followed by his gallant 
troops ; made a desperate attack upon his assailants, and 
compelled them to retreat. The fiery Edward was borne 
along by the tide of conflict, into the very midst of his 
foes. His noble mien attracted the notice of a French 
officer, who, calling on him to defend himself, galloped 
forward with ungovernable fury. Dreadful was the con- 
flict that ensued. For some time victory seemed doubtful 
— at length the French officer made a desperate lounge at 
Edward, which the latter parried with the greatest ad- 
dress, and returning it with more skill and better success, 
pierced his adversary's left side, who, uttering a heart- 
rending groan, immediately fell from his horse. Edward, 
through an unaccountable instinct, seldom manifested on 
the field of battle, instantly dismounted to assist his fallen 
foe, and, unfastening the clasps of his helmet, discovered 
a face pale through loss of blood, and fixed in the agonies 
of death. The dying man raised his heavy eyes to his 
generous conqueror, and, with a frenzied shriek, exclaimed, 
' Can this be Edward G., my long-forsaken brother?' The 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 403 

blood forsook Edward's cheeks, as he replied, ' Charles, is 
it thus we meet?' The dying brother faintly articulated, 
« Indeed we meet — but only to part/ The life-blood 
gushed fast from his mortal wound — his brother gazed 
intently on his marble features — his breath had ceased. 
At this interesting moment of reunion, and final separa- 
tion, a French soldier, influenced by revenge, approached 
the wretched Edward, who, stupified with grief and sur- 
prise, no longer offered any resistance. In one moment 
the direful work was done, the spirit of Edward followed 
that of his brother into the regions of immortality. 

" On the evening of the ever-memorable 18th of June, I 
visited the plains of Waterloo. What an awful sight ! So 
many of my countrymen lying exposed to the inclemency 
of the weather, and extended on the bare ground, with- 
out one friend to soothe or relieve their sufferings. 

'' A slight rustling sound made me turn my head, and I 
beheld a fair and fragile form, stooping and examining the 
features of the surrounding dead. At last she knelt down 
by the body of a young oflScer, and lifting the raven curls 
that clouded his alabaster forehead, uttered one dreadful 
shriek, and fell lifeless to the ground. I approached, but 
all animation was gone — the angelic spirit of the beauti- 
ful Lucy had fled to be united with that of her Edward !" 

The old soldier here paused, torrents of tears streaming 
down his sunburnt visage ! 

Circumstances compel me to close abruptly. Farewell. 

J. C. 



404 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 



LETTER XV. 

Hull, England, Nov., 1843. 
Ever dear Sir : 

As the steamer is within a few hours of leaving Liver- 
pool for America, I cannot let the opportunity pass without 
informing you of my safe arrival in -England, in excellent 
health. Thanks be unto the God of all my mercies ! We 
spent a Sabbath in Brussels, after our return from Water- 
loo; and walked out about nine o'clock in the morning in 
quest of a Protestant place of worship. A stranger di- 
rected us to the Royal Chapel, where we found a young 
clergyman, in robes, holding forth in German. The con- 
gregation was small, and the preacher anything but ani- 
mated. But there seemed a singular eflFort to make up for 
a want of unction and fervour, by gestures, highly studied, 
and a peculiar rolling of the eyes upwards ; as if every 
movement of the hand, motion of the eye, and position of 
the body was the result of a fixed purpose to abide by 
certain rules previously laid down, as the proper accom- 
paniments of the various parts of the sermon. This regu- 
lated even the use of the pocket mouehoir ; se moueher 
devenant necessaire ; which happened at regular intervals ; 
but was never done in the ^'vulgar gaze," but de bonne 
grace, becomingly turning his back upon the congrega- 
tion, as if going to weep over their hardness and impeni- 
tency ; the matter thus adjusted, his proper station and 
discourse were resumed very gracefully. 

We sighed for the fate of poor Protestantism, as we 
departed, but cheered ourselves with the hope of better 
things from an English clergyman, who was to preach in 
the same place, that afternoon. 

Returning to our hotel, we walked into the Roman 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 405 

Catliolic church, — a cathedral-looking Gothic structure. 
The congregation was large, but as the services were 
similar to those which I have described, as exhibited in 
other Popish churches, a repetition is unnecessary. 

The pulpit, in the above church, is considered the best 
specimen of carving in oak, which this country affords. 
It is designed to represent the banishment of Adam and 
Eve from the Garden of Eden. Within an opening of the 
Tree of Knowledge, stands the pulpit, supported by the 
figures of our first parents, as large as life. An angel, 
with a flaming sword, is in the act of driving out the fallen 
pair. The figures, wdth the Tree and adornments, are all 
done in carved oak. The attitude of Adam, with his face 
partly concealed by his two hands and his disordered hair, 
are w^ell adapted for the expression of passion ; the efforts 
of the artist to exhibit, in this figure, shame, desponding 
grief, and contrite submission, have succeeded admirably. 
Eve has one arm raised, as if to ward off a blow. There 
is a spirit thrown into her features, which one could 
scarcely expect to see in wood ; Guilt, Sorrow, and some- 
thing akin to Remonstrance, are there ; as if she would 
venture an appeal to her offended God, whether the angel 
was not overstepping in severity the bounds of his com- 
mission. The predominating feeling, in her '^ pitiful face," 
is far from the mournful acquiescence which appears in the 
countenance of Adam ; but rather indicates the utterance 
of the complaining sentiment : " Our punishment is greater 
than our sin deserves !" 

The Tree of Knowledge, embowers the pulpit ; and, 
with the assistance of a couple of angels, supports the 
canopy above the preacher. The serpent is in the act of 
stealing away from the wretched pair, partly concealed 
beneath foliage and fruit, till its head reaches the top of 
the canopy, where are figures of the Virgin and Child, — 
the infant Jesus standing upon the head of the serpent, 



406 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

and bruising it with his Cross. Upon the Tree are a 
variety of birds and quadrupeds ; among the latter, we 
noticed a fox and a monkey, each helping himself to the 
fruit that decoyed Eve. On Eve's side of the tree, are 
the peacock, the parrot, the squirrel, and the monkey. It 
was hinted to us before leaving Brussels, that the artist, 
who, it would appear, was not an admirer of the fair sex, 
" Contemplated a little satire by this arrangement of the 
chatterers.'* The character of the birds, animals, &c., 
which were placed on Adam's side, would go to substan- 
tiate the unfavourable design of the artist against the 
daughters of Eve ; but we did not learn that the good 
ladies of Brussels had ever resented the compliment. 
Near to Eve stands a figure far more significant and 
affecting ; — Death, the offspring of sin. 

This is the most imposing group of carving I have ever 
seen, and is worthy of the Netherlands, which has sur- 
passed, hitherto, every other continental nation, in this 
fine art. The feathery appearance of the birds is exqui- 
site, and the foliage and fruit beautifully disposed, and 
admirably executed. I never before imagined, that these 
productions of nature could be so closely imitated in this 
material ; worked in fact out of one piece of wood ; chained 
together so wonderfully, and in a disorder so natural and 
free, and with a lightness so loose and airy. 

The subject, at the same time, reads a moral lesson to 
the heart. The spectator sees, that it is an evil thing and 
a bitter to sin against God, whilst he is forcibly reminded 
of that fearful act which introduced into this world sin,, 
and death, and all our woe ; and above all, is confirmed in 
the recognition of the necessity for, as well as the counter- 
working nature of, the redeeming plan. Altogether it im- 
pressed us as not an inappropriate subject for a pulpit, 
and drew our admiration, malgre our deep-rooted opposi- 
tion to the errors of Popery. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 407 

We returned to the Chapel Royal in the afternoon, and 
had the happiness of attending the first public service in 
the English language since we left England. It sounded 
somewhat singular to hear the minister pray for '' Our 
rightful Sovereign, Queen Victoria," within the territories 
of his Belgic Majesty ; in his capital, and within his royal 
chapel. The congregation, however, was composed chiefly 
of English residents ; but at a proper period of the ser- 
vice, they did not fail to pray for his Majesty, King Leo- 
pold ; but the Queen of England had the first place in 
their supplications, as, doubtless, she occupied such a posi- 
tion in their aff*ections. We thought of the captive Jews, 
who sang when assembled by the cold streams of Babylon, 
'< If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget 
her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue 
cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusa- 
lem above my chief joy." The prayers were similar to 
those used in the Church of England ; the same as are 
read in the Episcopalian Church in America ; and, to our 
hungry souls, they were ''a feast of fat things." The 
congregation, unlike the exiled Jews, sang the songs of 
Zion, in a strange land, very sweetly. Our hearts chimed 
in well, both with the sentiments and the music, and the 
soft and soothing tones of a few verses, served to recall 
those bursts of living melody, so overwhelming and so 
frequent in our chapels at home : '' Like the memory of 
joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul !" 

The minister at length announced his text : '' He went 
about doing good ;" and I am sure we were in a state of 
mind to appreciate and enjoy a sermon ; but it proved to 
be as lean and soul-starving an affair as could be " got up" 
in the English language. The discourse lasted about 
twenty-five minutes, and amounted to this : The greater 
part of our comforts are derived from the community 
among whom we reside ; and it is our duty to contribute 



408 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

our part to the common stock, for the comfort and happi- 
ness of others. And certainly, the preacher himself ap- 
peared to have shared very largely in '<^ table comforts^'' 
at least. Whether he had contributed his quota to the 
general fund of enjoyment, was a question we could not 
determine ; but he seemed bloated to the very brink of 
apoplexy. 

" Alas !" we exclaimed, on our return, '' it is no wonder 
Popery is rampant in Brussels, with its usual accompani- 
ment of Sabbath-breaking, and all manner of wickedness, 
if this be the kind of cold^ heartless^ defective preaching 
with which Protestantism is cursed." The Roman priest- 
hood raise their standard of morality weekly, and insist 
strongly upon the properties in the character of a '^good 
Catholic;'' the Protestant ministers have their standard, 
and declaim upon the character of a good Protestant ; and 
this, with a few honourable exceptions, is the sum and 
substance of continental preaching. Yet the laws of God 
are violated unblushingly ; his holy Sabbaths are dese- 
crated on all sides, without restraint. Infidelity holds 
up its head fearlessly, and sways its direful influence over 
the minds of vast masses of the population. 

It is in Brussels, as in every other part of the world, 
where ^^ Christ crucified" is not fully and faithfully 
preached to the people, and remission of sins through faith 
in his blood; there is a manifest failure in the morality so 
much insisted upon. Corrupt human nature will ever bid 
defiance to the attempted restraints of the pulpit, when 
the regeneration of the soul, by faith alone, is not clearly 
and vigorously pressed home upon the conscience. No 
minister has ever yet succeeded in bringing his hearers to 
the practice of a perfect Gospel morality, till he has efi'ect- 
ually won them over to a real Gospel conversion, through 
faith in the blood of the Lamb. 

We left Brussels the next day by railway for Antwerp ; 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 409 

and a dangerous affair they have made it. How the 
wheels maintained their position on the rail, nobody could 
guess ; our carriage waddled like a duck ; and thankful 
we were when we reached the old city in safety.* Ant- 
werp is a well-built and strongly fortified city of Belgium. 
It is situated on the right bank of the Scheldt, and, if we 
reckon by the many windings of the river, about sixty 
miles from the German Ocean. 

The style of its architecture resembles that which most 
prevails in the cities of Holland ; the gable ends of the 
houses being principally toward the street, and of various 
fancies, both in shapes and ornaments, broken by steps on 
each side of the gable, contracting as they ascend, till they 
terminate in a slender point. It is remarkable that some 
of the very old houses in the city of Albany, N. Y., are 
similarly constructed ; so the next time you visit^hat city 
you may gratify your curiosity, and think of Antwerp. 

From the time that Napoleon Bonaparte meditated the 
overthrow of England, Antwerp was to him a place of the 
highest importance. His avowed design was to make it 
the great naval arsenal of Europe. He projected many 
splendid improvements, some of which were completed, but 
his sudden downfall put an end to them, and, in the opi- 
nion of some, to the prosperity of Antwerp also. 

The cathedral is the glory of Antwerp ; a beautiful 
Gothic structure, surmounted by an elegant spire, little 
inferior to that at Strasburg, and only a few feet lower. 
The spire rises out of a massive and richly ornamented 
tower, and stretches towards the heavens in a succession 
of pretty galleries, each diminishing in size as they as- 
cend, — elaborately carved, and in such nice proportions as 
perfectly to satisfy the eye. 

^ A very bad accident occurred shortly after ; several were killed, and 
many wounded. J. C. 

35 



410 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

The interior of the cathedral is exceedingly imposing. 
There are no pews to interrupt the footsteps, as in Ame- 
rican churches. An immense area, covered with smooth 
flags, presents itself at once to the view, lengthening and 
widening with the vision, to an extent of five hundred feet, 
by two hundred and thirty. The bold and majestic cha- 
racter of the architecture unfolds itself to the stranger as 
he advances. To the right and left he beholds a magnifi- 
cent avenue of gigantic columns, and, though inferior in 
classic beauty to those of York Minster, their colossal size 
and amazing altitude are sublimely impressive. 

The dimensions given of this building by some' travellers 
have been most extravagant. Our hand-book stated the 
height of the ceiling to be more than three hundred feet, 
which we pronounced an exaggeration. There is, through- 
out the whole interior, an admirable unity of proportions, 
with vastness of design. 

There are many fine pieces of sculpture in marble, dis- 
tributed around the walls, and paintings of no ordinary 
merit ; but the presence of two original paintings, by Ru- 
bens, would seem to afi"ect them as the sun does the stars. 
The first, which is generally considered the clief-d' oeuvre 
of this great master, is the celebrated Descent from the 
Gross. Sir Joshua Reynolds considered " The Christ one 
of the finest figures that ever was invented," adding, that 
«'the hanging of the head on his shoulders, and the falling 
of the body on one side, gave such an appearance of the 
heaviness of death, that nothing can exceed it." A care- 
less observer would not perceive, that much of the soft 
radiance which falls upon various parts of the painting, 
proceeds from the white sheet in which the body is being 
lowered ; an eifect of genius worthy the talents of this 
noble artist. Some of the females around the cross are 
invested with a purity and dignity, a pathetic modesty and 
grace, uncommon in Rubens, and not unworthy the pencil 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 411 

of a Raphael. A person of considerable taste and dis- 
cernment has remarked, " That female, on whose shoulder 
the foot of Christ appears to be resting, is possessed of one 
of the sweetest and most heavenly countenances that ever 
was produced by the pencil of a man ; and the young 
woman by her side, who is looking up to Christ with such 
intense anxiety, is not much inferior." This Avas saying 
a great deal ; an encomium, in fact, seldom accorded to 
the female heroines of this artist. Few understood less 
than Rubens in w^hat female beauty consisted ; but none 
knew better how to express what one has somewhere 
termed " a meretricious air, a sort of reckless defiance of 
modesty and feminine diflSdence." It is pleasing to see 
that he had the good sense, in such an awful subject as is 
developed in this painting, to forego his "beau ideaV of 
female excellence. 

The second painting referred to, is the Elevation of the 
Cross; a splendid painting also. The great stir around 
Calvary, is what one would expect ; but it is diflScult to 
conceive the necessity for such contortions of the muscles 
in so many able-bodied men, when making the efibrt to 
bring the cross to its perpendicular. It afforded the artist, 
however, a desirable opportunity for the display of his 
inimitable talent for colouring, and anatomical delineations. 
One of the ablest judges of the last century decided this 
to be "one of the best and most animated compositions" 
of Rubens. 

The pulpit in this cathedral is an ingenious piece of 
carving in wood. It is supported by four figures, as large 
as life, and covered with birds of various kinds ; but it did 
not strike us as being equal to that in the church at Brus- 
sels, described in this letter. 

There is in all the continental Romish churches, a pro- 
fusion of confessional-boxes ; but, in this respect, the cathe- 
dral of Antwerp surpasses them all. 



412 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

We enjoyed an extensive prospect from the top of the 
spire. 

Leaving the cathedral, we walked over to the Museum 
of Paintings ; but we had the precaution to walk through 
the galleries in which are exhibited the productions of living 
artists^ before we entered those appropriated to the works 
of the Old Masters. The collection of modern paintings 
was very large at this time, and of a very creditable cha- 
racter ; a proof, certainly, that this fine art is well encour- 
aged in Antwerp. Many of the paintings were exquisitely 
beautiful and true to nature ; most were distinguished for 
a full and brilliant tone of colouring, approaching to a 
'^flaring brilliancy,'* which the softening and mellowing 
hand of time may possibly remove. I am not, you must 
be aware, sufficiently acquainted with all that constitutes 
excellence in painting, to venture upon the criticism you 
desire ; nor could I attempt anything like an opinion of the 
respective merits of the productions of each artist, without 
turning the remainder of my letter into something like a 
catalogue. But I may say of them generally (with a few 
exceptions), in regard to subject, composition, colouring, 
pathos, poetic feeling, and m.ind, they were superior to any 
similar collection I had hitherto seen, and gave us an ex- 
alted idea of the Netherland artists. 

Many of the landscape paintings were of a very high 
order. Rugged mountains ; far-extended valleys ; " woody 
offscapes;" fresh and smiling meadows, tufted with trees, 
and enlivened with flocks and pieces of water, were the 
characteristics of some. In others, were cultivated fields, 
fringed with wood-land, and cheered with a sparkling stream, 
a busy town, or splendid city. The varied appearance of 
water ; the rapid or gently flowing river ; the mighty cata- 
ract, " coming down like an eternity ;" the spreading lake ; 
the dark pool, overshaded with trees ; or the ocean in a 
calm or storm, with vessels in the distance, or more danger- 
ous proximity to the shore, were the subjects of others. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 413 

The sky has been termed, the key-note, which regulates 
the harmony of a picture ; and it seems to have been well 
studied by these artists, in all its varieties of the grave, 
the cheerful, the brilliant, the gloomy, and the terrific ; 
whether canopied in clouds, or presenting an expanse of 
liquid transparency. Its effects upon the landscape, in 
those combined niceties and intricacies of colour (you 
know what I mean), and those delicate interchanges and 
imperceptible gradations of tint, which none but close 
observers of nature could perceive, a few have imitated 
exquisitely. 

Trees are no unimportant features in a landscape paint- 
ing. Trees have their anatomy as well as the human figure, 
and require a far closer study than many would imagine ; 
but, unlike the human form, each has its distinct anatomy. 
The idea, you are aware, is not original; but, when borne 
in mind, it adds greatly to one's satisfaction while viewing 
a picture, in which trees are the most prominent and inter- 
esting objects. Trees are supposed to have, what some 
have termed their character. Under this head, if I mistake 
not, are classified positions, dispositions, and massing, 
besides the tendency of stem, whether directed naturally, or 
by some disaster, or by the pressure of the prevailing wind. 
And there is the proper balance of the branches, and their 
clothing, or drapery if you please ; in reference to which 
we may observe, that all the fashions from the days of 
Solomon, in all his glory, down to our day of glitter and 
show, of which we may say, — 

**Witii varying vanities from every part, 
They shift the moving toy-shop of the heart !" — 

cannot be brought into comparison with the beautiful and 
endless variety displayed in the foliage of trees. And it 
is but doing justice to the artists of Antwerp, to say, that 
while the trees in their landscapes would bear criticism 
according to the above rules, the other objects in the 
painting are equally creditable ; at least so they appeared to 
35* 



414 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

US, and every man has a right to his own opinion. Every 
object satisfied and pleased the eye and judgment, — was at 
home with a weaning ; add to this, a nice attention to pro- 
portions, and an absence of that mannerism of which, in 
some American paintings, you have frequently complained. 
Do you recollect how glaringly defective M*****'s paint- 
ing was, on the principles of perspective? But a correct 
perspective^ lineal and aerial ; that is, if I mistake not, 
clearness of outline, and diminution of objects by distance, 
in regard to size^ colour^ and distinctness^ is, perhaps, at 
once the most difficult and most important part of land- 
scape painting. There are optical illusions besides, with 
which landscape painters have frequently to grapple, 
and which, I have heard remarked, depend not so much on 
distance as on a hazy state of the atmosphere. Some con- 
sider such illusions the most fascinating part of landscape 
painting ; and limit success, in this department, only to the 
few who have sufficient cleverness to take that nice advan- 
tage of the fog, by giving to the objects the appearance of 
great distance, preserving at the same time, unaltered, their 
real lineal perspective. 

Of all the places in the world, Antwerp seemed, to us, 
the most unfitted by Providence for the study of the pic- 
turesque in nature, if we except the privilege of learning 
the comparative bulk of objects through the medium of a 
Dutch fog ! What one has said of (•<- the fenny borders of 
Dutch canals, the uninteresting flats of neighbouring 
Flanders, and the sand-hills of distant Holland," may be 
well applied to all that presents itself to the artist, 
whether he sketches from the ramparts of the pentagon- 
like citadel, or from the "tip-top" gallery of the spire of 
Notre Dame ! 

It is not unlikely that the paintings of the Old Mas- 
ters^ in the adjoining rooms, may have had more powerful 
attractions for the eye of those modern artists, than the 
picturesque scenery of more favoured lands. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS.- 415 

It is proper to observe, that there were paintings in the 
exhibition upon which I have been remarking, which 
merited no praise. Several of the portraits were ex- 
tremely immodest ; and others, as to subject, design, and 
composition, were scarcely passable, in the estimation of 
some of our party. But I have been writing of the 
general impression made upon my own mind, by the best 
in the collection, and they were not a few. We wished to 
be pleased, and when we approached a disagreeable pic- 
ture, it was easy to pass on to another of a more pleasing 
and instructive character. 

From the galleries of modern paintings, we passed into 
those devoted to the works of the Old Masters. Here 
are assembled some of the finest original paintings of the 
most celebrated artists of past centuries ; many of which 
once adorned the walls of several churches and convents 
of Antwerp. 

Rubens is here in his glory. The identity of the paint- 
ings of this master cannot easily be mistaken. How pro- 
lific was his pencil ! His works are to be found in most 
of the picture galleries of Europe. How exuberant was 
his fancy ! How varied the subjects that occupied his 
genius ! " His subjects,*' says a writer of taste, '' are 
familiar, and remarkably attractive, by the playful and 
bold composition, striking efiect of light and shade, luxu- 
riance of the richest colouring and general air, and bloom- 
ing profusion of everything calculated to catch the eye." 
And, says the great Reynolds : " Indeed, the facility with 
which he invented, the richness of his composition, the 
luxuriant harmony and brilliancy of his colouring, so dazzle 
the eye, that, whilst his works continue before us, we can- 
not help thinking all his deficiencies are fully supplied.'' 

The great talents of this master were often wasted upon 
worthless subjects ; but there are many of an opposite 
character, such as those we noticed in the cathedral of 



416 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

Antwerp, and others in these rooms : Christ showing his 
wounds to Thomas; St, Ann teaching the Virgin to read; 
Christ crucified between two thieves^ &c., which have secured 
him a name, likely to be perpetuated during a great many 
centuries to come.* 

The steamer Wilherforce being in readiness to sail for 
London, we went on board, and proceeded down the river. 
Our vessel occupied the Scheldt during five or six hours, 
and about dark we were amidst '^ the gentle pitchings and 
luxuriant heavings'' of the North Sea! I had taken the 
precaution before leaving Antwerp, of tying a belt tightly 
round me, a little above my stomach, as a preventive 
against sea-sickness, which had never failed to attack me 
when within the territories of Neptune. Having little 
confidence in the measure, prudence dictated that the mat- 
ter should be kept secret from some acquaintances on 
board, lest the internal sea should become as unruly a& 
the "apoplectic brine of merry waves," when the gentle- 
men might possibly have laughed at me, as some have 

* Here my humble and imperfect criticisms must close abruptly. My 
notes on this fine art extended over three or four additional pages; but 
an act of carelessness has rendered their insertion impossible. The 
manuscript got mixed with loose leaves already transcribed ; and when 
clearing them away from my study table, which, I confess, is often very 
untidy, they were with a mass of other papers accidentally committed 
to the flames. 

This circumstance brings to my remembrance a minister, with whom I 
was acquainted, in America, who unfortunately had his house burned to 
the ground. His written sermons, though never remarkable for anima- 
tion or unction, sharing the same fate with his library, he considered a 
most heart-rending affair. Being in company with a number of minis- 
ters, some time after the fire, and lamenting the loss of his manuscript 
sermons ; a coloured minister, a shrewd man, who knew him well, re- 
joined: **But, brother, is it not likely they made a greater blaze at the 
time of the fire than they ever did in the pulpit?" Perhaps, then, the 
grate was the very best depository which the notes alluded to could have 
found ; and to write anything better is out of the question, in my present 
circumstances. 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 417 

done at poor Xerxes, who attempted to bind with fetters 
the waves of the Hellespont. 

We retired to rest early, and about five o'clock in the 
morning were awakened out of a sound sleep by a singular 
rocking motion of our steamer, as if the masts were touch- 
ing the water, first on one side, and then on the other. 
What rendered it more exciting was, that the machinery 
had nearly, or altogether, come to a pause. We hastened 
on deck, and the scene was truly awful. The wind had 
risen to a hurricane, and the waves — but let a poet 
speak : — 

" Huge and black the waves career'd, 
And oft the giant surge appear'd, 
The master of the mast.'* 

^'Huge and black," only for a moment or two; the 
next minute they were white as wreaths of snow, boiling, 
and foaming, and running together like infuriated armies ; 
and when attempting to ^^ master the mast,'' the storm 
blew thousands of their heads off in a twinkling, and 
spread them along helpless as the Assyrian army beneath 
the stroke of the destroying angel. Unlike that host, 
however, they rallied again in vengeance. Ocean howled 
to the hurricane, and the hurricane spoke back again to 
the rebellious ocean, with a voice louder than your Niagara. 
All was uproar and confusion ; our vessel tossing to and 
fro in the midst of the belligerents. As we approached 
the wide mouth of the Thames, the gale was, if possible, 
more terrific. Two fine ships were driven ashore, one of 
which was freighted with passengers bound for a foreign 
land. The elements thundered no to our struggling 
vessel, to which she replied yes, faintly, and staggered 
onward, gaining a little, and puflSng hot steam in the face 
of her enemies, — 

** Climbing the billow's hoary brow, 
Or cleaving the raging heap " 

It was a fair battle, in fact, between steam and storm. 



418 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

What a wonderful creature, I thought, is man ! Unable, 
of himself, to contend successfully with the combined fury 
of the elements, he has succeeded by the energies and 
resources of his own genius to decoy them into a mutiny , 
and, having formed an alliance with the disaffected, he has 
''set them a fighting'' with each other; element against 
element ; fire and water against wind and water in fury, — 
a Jiot hurricane against a cold one ; while he himself 
stands in the midst of the furious and dangerous combat- 
ants, unconcerned and unarmed, riding on the whirlwind 
and commanding the Battle of the Storms ; coming off 
more than conqueror in ninety-and-nine such contests out 
of a hundred. 

But what was far more wonderful to me than all, I was 
not sick ! There was patient and perfect submission within, 
to bonds of good behaviour ; nor was the peace once 
broken during the voyage. For once in my life, whether 
the thing may ever occur again may be a question, I en- 
joyed some such pleasure as an old sailor so well ex- 
pressed : — 

"Oh! who can tell the brave delight, 

To see the hissing wave in might, 
Come rampant like a snake ! 

To leap his horrid crest, and feast 

One's eyes upon the briny beast. 
Left couchant in the wake !" 

My soul, during the storm, rested sweetly upon the 
goodness and mercy of God. I had no fear whatever. 
How secure and happy the soul can be amidst tempest 
and peril, that — 

** Feels the joys of pardon'd sin r 
Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea, 
That mind has heaven and peace within." 

And thus it was, I believe, with the Rev. Israel Hol- 
gate, the companion of my travels. 

Heathens themselves had an exalted idea of the secu- 



CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 419 

rity and blessedness of such a state of mind. Perhaps 
you have not seen what is considered a spirited transla- 
tion of the celebrated lines of Horace. I cannot remem- 
ber more than two or three verses : — 

** The man whose nerve stern virtue strings, 
Firm by his lofty purpose clings, 
Quails not beneath the scowl of kings, 
And braves the rude democracy. 

That lordly soul nor sees with dread 
The gale lash Adria's billowy bed, 
Nor, hissing from his right hand red, 
The bolt of heaven's high Thunderer ! 

Be earth's big orb asunder riven, 
Crash to the azure roof of heaven, 
Down on his head the wreck be driven, 
'Twill smite him, smiling, panicless." 

There is a bold and rugged grandeur in the above lines, 
but they are far inferior to a passage in the forty-sixth 
Psalm, both in sublimity, and in that reverential tone of 
expression which should ever characterize sinful and de- 
pendent man, when beholding the elements in a motion so 
tremendous, and so indicative of the majesty and dreadful 
power of a present all-pervading God : God is our refuge 
and strength J a very present help in trouble; Therefore will 
not we fear^ though the earth he removed^ and though the 
mountains he carried into the midst of the sea. Though the 
waters thereof roar and he troubled^ though the mountains 
shake with the swelling thereof Selah, The Lord of 
Hosts is with us ; the Crod of Jacoh is our refuge. Selah.'' 

Our steamer finally succeeded in gaining the peaceful 
Thames, and we proceeded rapidly up to London. The 
Thames is a fine river, but the meadows on either side are 
marshy and uninteresting, till within a few miles of Lon- 
don ; when the evidences that the stranger is approaching 
the metropolis of a great and powerful nation, begin to 
multiply upon his attention. That part of the river, how- 



420 CONTINENTAL LETTERS. 

ever, which we did not see, but which is most distinguished 
for ^'romantic scenery, and picturesque beauty,'' lies above 
London. 

We landed at Blackwall, and after an examination of 
baggage at the Custom House, which was a tedious affair, 
we were permitted to enter the city. . 

Next morning we left London by railway ; and when 
within a few miles of Leeds I parted with my excellent 
friend, Mr. Holgate, and arrived here (Hull) about ten 
o'clock at night, and received a cordial welcome to the 
hospitable house of Mr, William Field, grocer, Market- 
place. 

Having been frequently invited to visit this large and 
populous town, by the superintendent of the Hull East 
Circuit, the Rev. Robert Thompson, I have concluded to 
spend a few weeks for the purpose of assisting him and 
his colleagues, the Rev. William lUingworth, and the Rev. 
John Vine, to promote a revival of the work of God. 

I have preached a few times, but not with my usual 
liberty. for a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost ! 

After retracing the scenes through which I have passed, 
during the tour of which you have an imperfect and hasty 
account, I cannot express my feelings better than in the 
words of the Rev. John Wesley. About the close of the 
eightieth year of his life, in the year 1783, he visited 
Holland, and some parts of Germany, and concluded the 
journal of his tour thus : ''1 can by no means regret 
either the trouble or expense which attended this little 
journey. It opened my way into a new world, where the 
land, the buildings, the people, the customs, were all such 
as I had never seen before." 

Please present my love to * * * * and to all inquiring 
friends. J. C. 

THE END. 



